Teshome Abera & Sobha B. Nair

Indigenizing School Curricula for Life skill Development

KERALA SOCIOLOGIST 45 (2), December 2017, Pp. 165-171 @ Kerala Sociological Society


Teshome Abera & Sobha B. Nair

Indigenizing school curricula is a vital instrument for developing indigenous life skills in students. This is because indigenous knowledge is rich in information built through experiences accumulated for a long period of time. Indigenous knowledge helps to protect the world social diversity that is going to be destroyed and contribute in building the confidence that appreciates our situation in creating the pluralistic world. In many of the developing countries, the indigenous knowledge system was colonized and dominated by the colonial system of education. And hence, there is a need for indigenizing school curricula using indigenous people’s knowledge to build the life skills of students. The incorporation of indigenous knowledge into school curricula helps to build the life skill of the students. However, school curricula designed in many parts of developing countries are promoting western values. Indigenous knowledge is excluded and marginalized. Therefore, there is a need for de-marginalizing indigenous knowledge and indigenizing school curricula. The school curricula have to address diversity in order for students to build their self-esteem from the knowledge generated by the interaction with the natural environment in their local areas. Indigenous knowledge is the primary source of the knowledge system that students acquire and help them to build sets of life skills that improve their livelihood. Keywords: Indigenous knowledge, indigenizing, school curricula, and life skills.

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Introduction

Western knowledge imposed a uniform world view that gave power to the Europeans to control knowledge. The West marginalized other ways of knowing as savage, superstitious, and primitive (Akena 2012). It is obvious from practical observation that the world system of education is centralized. It is the western system of education that dominated the school curricula all over the world. Indigenous beliefs, knowledge and skills are marginalized, which requires demarginalization. Like a majority of the African country, Ethiopian education is colonized by the Western-centric education. This is because the school curriculum of the county is developed either with the involvement of Western experts or under their sponsorship. The colonial trend is not only the issue of occupying others’territories, but also includes westernizing the local knowledge of others. The West considers African indigenous knowledge as primitive, traditional, mysticism and others. As a result,the western-centric system of education excluded indigenous knowledge from both development theory and that of its global sciences (Battiste 2002:4). The West considered only their knowledge as scientific and that which can lead to development. However, presently in the issue of development related to sustainable development,importance given to indigenous knowledge gradually increases. Nevertheless, the weight given to indigenous knowledge is still minimal as the research finding showed. This study, therefore, focuses on the importance of indigenizing school curriculum for life skill development of the student. Objective The main objective of the study is to discuss the importance of indigenizing school curricula for life skill development. Methodology The methodology involved in conducting this research is qualitative; the tools used for collecting data are in-depth interviews. Interviews were held with university professors who engaged in teaching and publication and work in the area of indigenous knowledge. Discussion There is no commonly acknowledged definition of indigenous knowledge (Kelman et. al 2012:13). The definition of Indigenous knowledge differs as one prefers to use the term. And in short,there is no identical definition and meanings of indigenous knowledge. The definition depends on the perspective in which the author wants to use it. (NUFFIC and UNESCO/MOST 2000). In this study, however, indigenous knowledge refers to knowledge embedded in the culture of a specific community living in a given geographical area and indigenizing is integrating indigenous knowledge into the school curriculum.

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The indigenous community, learn from the rich and different experiences in their lives. Indigenous knowledge inspires cultural sustainability that is important for existence and general livelihood of the community (Usman: 2010:213).Indigenous people address what is happening in their lifetime centred on the philosophy of life they have in their life involvements(Ascher 2002; Eglash 2002 cited in Barnhardt and Kawagley 2005). Indigenizing school education plays an important role for developing indigenous life skills in school children. “Indigenization demands a re-narration of the African existence and it is meant to bring about equal opportunities to the previously marginalized, and promotes indigenous knowledge and resources” (Shizha 2014:116). Life skills are defined by W.H.O. as “abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable individuals to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life” (W.H.O 1997). “It is essentially information and wisdom that enhances the well-being of each person, of society, of those to come, and of the agro-ecological environment” (Mosha 1999. 213). This information and wisdom help students to develop a set of life skills important to cope with the social and natural environment. Ethiopia is an African country, but unlike other African countries, Ethiopia was not colonized except for a brief period of occupation by Italy. Before 1908 the country had her own education system which was given by religious intuitions, mainly the church. After 1908 the curriculum of education was changed and designed by foreign experts. Not only was the issue of curriculum, but school administration was under the control of foreigners in the name of modernizing the education system of the country. As a result, the system of education hardly developed the life skill of the students based on indigenous education. The Ethiopian education system currently has a huge weakness in building the life skills of the student. The education system was designed by a high involvement of foreign experts from different Western countries in both curriculum development, medium of instruction, and evaluation system in different historic periods of the country’s education system. The major problems of foreign curriculum as it is revealed in Ethiopian education system are its detachment from the direct and enduring interest of a community. It is obvious that the alien curriculum developed certain life skills. However, such skills are not appropriate for the very community passing through the educational system. Thus, students are produced in the interest of those who designed the curriculum; it is the system of education to fulfil alien interests than the real interest of the community. Indigenization, on the other hand, will give the community freedom to determine its curriculum in a way that the life skills developed primarily benefit their society. As the finding from the interview shows, incorporating indigenous knowledge into the Ethiopian school curriculum could be an important step for indigenizing and developing indigenous life skills, which is essential to teaching societal

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values. Indigenous knowledge is different from that of modern knowledge in its system of knowledge. The knowledge is acquired chiefly from real life interaction with the community and the natural environment. Hence “An indigenized curriculum will enhance, cognitive, development and academic achievement for students” (Shiza 2014). The purpose of indigenization of the school curriculum is to provide, first-hand information, skills, and techniques that are essential to earn a living and provide moral instruction which are fundamental to the everyday life of the student. The application of indigenous knowledge in social administrations, resource management, and environment provide continuous solutions for the problem in the local area. Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank said: “indigenous knowledge is an integral part of the culture and history of the local community; we need to learn from the local community to enrich the development process” (cited in Gorjestani 2000). In most developing countries, before the colonization of education, children educated through practices interacting with the natural environment. The reason is that indigenous knowledge is knowledge from experiences over a long period of interaction (Kelman et. al. 2012). It is “learning by doing which involved observation, imitation and participation” (Woolman 2001). This helps in the development of life skills which is indispensable for the survival of the member of the community, which is the student. Indigenous knowledge provides the set of skills defined by WHO (1997) through valuing their own identity, culture, and tradition. It helps the students to build self-awareness, decision-making, and problem-solving skills by providing knowledge from their daily experiences in the local environment. However, for students to acquire indigenous life skills, education should be provided in their own local language. Referring to the Education in Ghana,Shiza (2014) commented: “The students only learn the colonial language of English without learning the culture that goes with that language” (Shiza 2014). Teaching in the local language is one way of indigenizing knowledge. “As curriculum designers, implementers and examiners, teachers should emphasize the content and methodology that would speak to the learner’s environment” (Mule 1999). The Ethiopian education system gives priority to the foreign language as a medium of instruction than that of local language which has its own script. In addition to developing the life skill of students on the basis of the culture in which the knowledge is based, curriculum indigenization plays a significant role in sustainable education. Indigenized curriculum brings a transformative education development that provides students and teachers or trainers with the new dimension of knowledge and ways of thinking from the knowledge of the indigenous community that can nurture to achieve life success and produce responsible citizenship. Indigenization of school curricula helps in promoting and building skills that enable students to solve their problem and build in students’ ownership of knowledge that they acquire from their predecessors. It is obvious that “indigenous knowledge is about the representation of culture,

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history, local experiences, and the thing of land and socio-physical environments of communities” (Dei 2014). Hence, the knowledge which represents the culture of the given communities which the member of the group can easily understand, makes the learner build their interpersonal communication skill and enables them to fit in the society of which they are part. Indigenous knowledge is prior knowledge and the incorporation of this knowledge into the Ethiopian education curricula develops the learners’ capability to improve the community’s real thinking which is the knowledge bases of their society and that of sustainable development (World Bank 2005). Indigenizing school education helps students to know, respect, and appreciate their identity, culture, and tradition. It helps to build students into different skills by providing knowledge from generation through practices in the living environment. It helps to develop the students’character, his/her strengths and weaknesses. Ethiopia is one of the oldest independent African countries whichwasnot colonized,before the modernization process began,Ethiopia had her educational system embedded in indigenous knowledge. This education system was gradually side-lined and replaced by the western system of education. As a result, the ability of the education system under implementation to develop a set of life skills in students, which is important to live in the real life situation is negligible. It is vital to indigenize the Ethiopian school curriculum in order to benefit from the country’s social values and build asystem of education that builds life skills important for survival in the community and makes the knowledge part of the knowledge base of the world. This requires indigenizing the school curricula and medium of instruction. The language of instruction currently is dominated by western language-English. The western system of education has its own limitations. It does not integrate the cultural elements of the indigenous system. Indigenous knowledge helps imparting a set of life skills in students because life skills emanate from practical daily encounters. It helps students to understand the environment and situate themselves in a holistic framework. Conclusion The Ethiopian school curriculum is dominated by the Eurocentric education system, and the extent to which the curriculum under implementation in Ethiopia helps students to understand their culture and the natural environment is very low. This implies that the contribution of alien curriculum which is not based on the culture of the students in developing the life skills of the student is minimal. Indigenizing the current school curriculum of the country is important to equip students with skills from varied knowledge in the real world of the students. Indigenization demands learning with local language which facilitates easy communication that enables students to learn from the local environment. The present Western-imposed curriculum influences students’ abilities to cope successfully with the demands of the society they are living in, due to the limitation of skill developed as a result of knowledge foreign to them. Hence, curricu-

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lum development in Ethiopia should give priority for indigenous knowledge for a set of life skill development of the student. Giving priority includes teaching and learning in local language. It is only when students learn in their local language that what they learn is more and more clear and becomes a part of their life. References Akena, A.F.September,2012.Critical Analysis of the Production of Western Knowledge and Its Implications for Indigenous Knowledge and Decolonization: Journal of Black Studies: Sage Publications (Vol. 43, No. 6), 599-619, http://www.jstor.org/ stable/23414661, Accessed, 15-02-2016. Barnttardt R. and Kawagley O.A. 2005.Indigenous knowledge system and Alaska Native ways of knowing, Anthropology and Education Quarterly, university of California (Vol.36, issue1),8-23, http://www.u press.edu/journal/right.htm. Accessed (10-01-2017). Battiste, M. 2002. Indigenous Knowledge and Pedagogy in First nations Education. A Lit erature Review with recommendations, Ottawa: National Working Group on Education and The Ministry of Indian Affairs, Indian and North Affairs Can ada(INAC),Ottawa,1_69,www.afn.ca/.../education/24._2002_oct_marie_ battiste_indigenousknowledgeandped, Accessed 15/08/2016. DeI G.S.2014.Indigenizing the school curriculum.The case of African University. (Editors EmeagwaliG. and Dei G.J)African Indigenous Knowledge and the Disciplines.The Netherlands:Sense Publisher, 164-168. Gorjestani,N. 2013. Indigenous Knowledge for Development. Opportunities and Challenges(Indigenous Knowledge for Development Program The World Bank.Paper presentation at the UNCTAD Conference on Traditional Knowledge in Geneva, November 1, 2000(accessed11/09/2013). Kelman et. al. 2012.Indigenous knowledge and disaster risk reduction. Vol. 97, No.1(Spring 2012), pp. 12-21, published by Geographical Association http:// www.jstor.org/stable/24412175Accessed: 15-02-2016. Mosha, R.S.1999. The Inseparable Link between Intellectual and Spiritual Formation in Indigenous Knowledge and Education: A Case Study in Tanzania.( Editors, Ladislaus M.Semali and Joe. L.Kincheloe) What is indigenous knowledge?: voices from the academy. New York and London :Flamer press, 209-226. Mule, L. 1999. Indigenous Languages in the School Curriculum: What Happened to Kiswahili in Kenya? In L. Semali& J. L. Kincheloe (Eds.), What is indigenous knowledge? Voices from the academyLondon: Falmer Press, 227-242. Nuffic and Unesco/Most (2000). Best Practice using indigenous Knowledge (Editors Karin Boven. And Jun Morohashi), Netherland, The Hague and France, Paris: P12. Quiroz, C. 1999. Local Knowledge Systems and Vocational Education in Developing Countries. In L. Semali& J. L. Kincheloe (Eds.), What is indigenous knowledge?

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Teshome Abera is a Ph.D. Research Scholar in the Department of Sociology,

University of Kerala. Email: [email protected] Sobha.B. Nair is Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, University of Kerala. Email: [email protected]

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