NN40, May 2008
Education for Sustainable Development? Or The Sustainability of Education Investment? A Special Issue
Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Sustainable Development and Education
By Anders Breidlid, Oslo University College
Email: Anders.Breidlid@lu.hio.noKeywords
Indigenous Knowledge, Sustainable Development, Education
Summary
This article explores the relationship between culture, indigenous knowledge systems, sustainable development and education in an African context.
The global, hegemonic role of the Western educational discourse, world-views and knowledge systems has over the last years been questioned and critiqued by a number of scholars and politicians in both Africa and Asia as well as in the West. Inspired by the African Renaissance in particular, interest in and focus on world views and indigenous cultures and knowledge systems in Africa as a supplement to what some call reductionist science and knowledge systems have led to a comprehensive exploration of ?the role of the social and natural sciences in supporting the development of indigenous knowledge systems? (Odora Hoppers, 2002: vii).
This note first briefly discusses some characteristic features of African (indigenous) world-views and knowledge systems, stressing the lack of distinction between the spiritual and the temporal, so common in European modernity.
The article then analyses the concept of sustainability with particular reference to education and indigenous knowledge systems. The question is to what extent indigenous knowledge has been taken into consideration in the various syllabi and curricula in Africa south of Sahara. And is the inclusion of indigenous (home) knowledge including world views and culture in the schools, a necessary if not the only prerequisite in Africa?s struggle for sustainable development? Moreover, when indigenous cultures and knowledge systems are ignored, in what way does it impact on power relationships in a given society?
The paper analyses the documents from the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in 2002 in particular and argues that the Summit links sustainable development to a modernist knowledge discourse with hardly any reference to indigenous knowledge.
The paper proceeds to explore Curriculum 2005 launched by the ANC government and highlights the dilemmas of exclusively introducing Western-based scientific knowledge in a cultural context based on indigenous epistemology. The revised Curriculum 2005 asks the following question: Does an exclusion of indigenous knowledge systems hinder or facilitate learning? The importance and seriousness of this question are underlined by Ogunniyi who states in connection with science teaching: ?The concept of world view is central to science education because it is the knowledge that a learner brings into the science class. Research has shown that such knowledge has a great potential for hindering or enhancing the learning of science? (Ogunniyi, 2003: 27). The crossing of epistemological borders to accommodate the so-called modern, rational world of science means that the pupil has to negotiate between various, conflicting world views and mental states. The complexities of these negotiations and navigation should not be overlooked.
In what way can the inclusion of indigenous knowledge systems contribute to developing a curriculum which transcends the borders of modernity and thus help to provide a broader foundation for sustainable development? By way of conclusion the paper calls for more research into the viability of indigenous knowledge systems as a potential tool in sustainable development.
References
Odora Hoppers, C.A. (2002) ed. Indigenous Knowledge and the Integration of Knowledge Systems. Claremont, Cape Town: New Africa Books
Ogunniyi, M.M. & Rochford, K. (2003) (eds.) The Pursuit of Excellence in Science and Mathematics Education. Cape Town: University of Western Cape
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