By Willem P. Nashidengo
WHY science education? As a teacher educator and a science lecturer, science education is one of the first priorities in a litany of Namibia Vision 2030, if we are still to deem such a vision. However, I adhere to my sentiments and delineation of importance of science education to Gaffney (2005) – science enables students to have power and control of the environment when they become scientists and other personnel in the society. Scientific skills and knowledge can bring about “step-changes” in areas ranging from health, water supply, sanitation and energy to new challenges of urbanisation and climate change (Dickson, 2005).
Science is needed in each country for overcoming economic stagnation, eradication of poverty and development of vaccines and treatment for HIV and AIDS and malaria especially on the African continent. Basically, in the contemporary world, people depend on science education (and of course technology) in order to make their lives more doable and comfortable. Upon these fundamental principles importance of science, the science curriculum should play a major role in reinforcing the study of science.
It should integrate and link the scientific theories with the daily lives of students so that a meaningful learning and acquisition of scientific values can culminate in a high learning order. This is simply because students are not “empty vessels” they acquire some degree of knowledge and values prior to engagement in science education. These values and cultural beliefs of students should be taken into consideration when these learners come to the science classroom.
Although, science education seems to be an important catalyst to a better life, many science educators and researchers like some African theorisers believe that science when it is practised in the so-called “developing” countries is a form of Western science because the values and cultures of Africans are not considered by this type of science. They suggest that Africans need to develop a science curriculum that integrates both values and cultures of Africans together with Western science. Science educators and students in Africa find many conflicts between their cultural values and those of Western cultures in the science curriculum.
What challenges might the teaching and learning of science evoke? Many Namibian teachers are challenged by linking school life with an outside world. For instance, teaching a lesson on the human reproductive system. This stirs discomfort in some learners because there is a big gap between a learner’s out of school life and science teaching in the class. In other words, it is against the cultural background of some learners to talk about ‘private parts’ freely.
Additionally, an ultimate challenge is also observed in the theory of human evolution, which says humans, and other primates like chimpanzees, monkeys, and gorillas have evolved from the common ancestor; hence this statement is based on biological scientific study of human evolution. Most of the population in Namibia is made up of Christians; they believe that God created human beings in a form of Adam and Eve.
Thus this scenario and human evolution contradict. Scientifically, seeing the rainbow colours in the sky would mean a reflection and refraction of light rays by the tiny droplets of water but culturally, in most African cultures seeing a rainbow would depict that God loves his people.
According to George (2001), there are four distinct categories of traditional way of knowing (African Culture) and scientific way of knowing namely:
• Category 1: Traditional knowledge and technologies can be explained in conventional science terms. For example, the separation of water from alcohol in making concentrated alcohol which can be explained in terms of distillation both scientifically and traditionally.
• Category 2: Traditional knowledge can likely be explained by conventional science. For example, a brew made from the plant “vervine” (Strachytarpheta) is used in the treatment of worms in children. The plant termed by conventional science is believed to have pharmacological properties as studied by scientists. Furthermore, traditionally when one has a cold or flu, eucalyptus tree leaves are boiled and given to the patient and it is also believed that these trees have some pharmaceutical importance in their chlorophyll.
• Category 3: A conventional science link can be made to traditional knowledge, even though the underlying principles are different. For example, traditional wisdom warns that eating sweet foods causes diabetes. This is related to the conventional science principle that links diabetes with sugars. However, traditional knowledge states that sugars cause diabetes whereas conventional science claims that when one is diabetic, the ingestion of sugar can cause one’s condition to become worse.
• Category 4: Some traditional knowledge cannot be explained in conventional science terms. For example witchcraft and traditional healers.
Science education and traditional knowledge are two distinct cultures. Literally, culture means a shared way of living which includes knowing, valuing, interaction with others, feeling, and beliefs. For example: When teaching human evolution to students this may create some contradictory ideas in the mind of students. Traditionally, in Christianity it is believed that God created Adam as the first human and then one of Adam’s ribs was used to create Eve as it is well known in most Namibian cultures.
However, in science human evolution postulates the origination of human beings and other primates like monkeys, chimpanzees and apes being from the same ‘father’, which simply means that they have arisen from the common ancestor. Biblically, God created humans and animals like monkeys on different days.
This makes them to be distinct from one another. However, science education has proven that the genetic material of humans and primates like chimpanzees and apes have a difference that is less than two percent meaning and that there is a possibility of them being related as family members, Thus “hominid” is a scientific name for humans and other primates.
Teaching and learning such contradicting theories is very difficult. Additionally, Jegede and Aikenhead (n.d.) stipulate that since science and traditional knowledge are two different cultures learners need to move from one culture to another – this is referred to as ‘cultural border crossing’. For science to be a successful course it depends on the degree of cultural difference that students perceive between their life-world and their science classroom; how effectively students move between life-world culture and the culture of science; and the assistance they receive in making the transition.
This cultural border crossing of students depends on three characters, namely, flexibility; playful and feeling to ease or the ability of the student to understand the other culture without infringing on the identity of his/her culture. The teacher is required to be ‘cultural(ly) broke’ in teaching learners how to cross the cultural boundaries either back or forward between science and indigenous knowledge. By this learners can know where to go upon reflective thinking. However, collateral learning theory might culminate which involves two or more conflicting schemata held simultaneously in the long-term memory.
In conclusion, many non-Western science educators feel that the contemporary science curriculum needs to be re-addressed and changed to confirm non-Euro-American cultures.
• Willem P. Nashidengo is a science lecturer at the University of Namibia.