Integration of Traditional Ecological Knowledge in-to Primary School Learning

Abstract

This research was conducted to understand the perception of people in Tawangmangu, Central Java in terms of the potential of teaching TEK in primary schools, challenges, and teaching strategies. We conducted semi-structured and unstructured interviews with 77 participants (local TEK experts, local communities, educators, and education officials). TEK in Tawangmangu includes folktales, ceremonies, offerings, typical food, terraced farming, intercropping systems, irrigation systems, crop management, herbal medicine, traditional house, and social system. Participants supported the idea because the TEK began to become extinct and identified its delivery in formal schools as a bridge to maintain it. Factors identified as obstacles are limited study time, limited access to subject matter, lack of political support, and differences in the characteristics of knowledge transfer between science and TEK. Participants claimed that the most appropriate strategy for teaching it in primary schools was to bring students closer to the real context. To teach it, the teacher chooses a number of contextual learning methods that are considered suitable, like field trips, role playing, task-based learning, and project-based learning.

Incorporating Traditional Knowledge into Science-Based Sociotechnical Measures in Upper Watershed Management: Theoretical Framework, Existing Practices and the Way Forward

“…Other types of TK are found in the community in the Tawangmangu district, which until the early 1990s consumed corn and tubers as their staple foods due to the high rainfall and steep slopes in the area [40]. In general, there are three major themes related to the TK of the Tawangmangu community regarding non-rice food security.…”

Banyumas Folklore in an Ecocritical Perspective: Medium of Inheritance of Environmental Conservation Value

“…More people, especially the younger generation, are leaving traditional values and absorbing new values from foreign cultures that are not in accordance with the original character of the Indonesian nation. Generations do not understand the transition process, even consider their own culture as something that is outdated [12]. Contexted with the spirit of environmental conservation, the inheritance of local wisdom about environmental conservation is essential to the younger generation.…”

“…Referring to Sari and Putra, that folklore can be used as a medium of education and pass on local wisdom across generations, it shows its relevance as a tradition because it continues to be used from the past to modern times as it is today. The nature of folklore varies, but the message about the wisdom of protecting the Environment remains universal [12].…”

Traditional ecological knowledge on the slope of Mount Lawu, Indonesia: all about non-rice food security

“…The community in the Tawangmangu District consumed corn and tubers as their staple food until early 1990. They did not consume rice like most Indonesians due to the area's climatic and geographical conditions, especially high rainfall and steep slopes, unsuitable for rice cultivation [ 29 ]. However, food self-sufficiency programs promote the residents consuming non-rice to include rice as a main source of nutrition gradually.…”

“…Despite corn being a non-staple food in Tawangmangu, TEK on non-rice food still exists, including folktales on the origin of non-rice commodity crops, traditional ceremonies with non-rice offerings, and agricultural systems for non-rice crop management [ 29 , 33 ]. Most residents' lives revolve around non-rice food security, believing that the folktale events on the origins of corn and vegetables are real.…”