The challenges of Integrating Indigenous Knowledge in the teaching of weather and climate in Geography in Manicaland province of Zimbabwe

Abstract

Scholars have acknowledged that the current education system in Zimbabwe has done very little to incorporate learners’ socio-cultural experiences. The purpose of the qualitative case study, from which this research draws its data, was to examine the views of the teachers and education officers on the challenges of integrating Indigenous Knowledge (IK) into the teaching of weather and climate. The study was conducted in secondary schools of Manicaland in Zimbabwe. It is hoped that these views from the various stakeholders can contribute to the ongoing discussions on updating the Geography curriculum (2015 – 2022) in Zimbabwe. Data was generated using interviews and focus group discussions. The study revealed numerous challenges in integrating IK into Geography in secondary schools which include the lack of written texts given the oral tradition, the training of teachers, insufficient IK experts for guidance, teachers own attitudes and beliefs, assessment challenges and urbanisation. However, I argue that these challenges should not detract from the decolonizing project of integrating IK into the Zimbabwean Geography curriculum, rather the challenges should open up avenues for further discussion on including IK in the curriculum. It is recommended that the Ministry of Education seek to address the challenges, reported on the integration of IK into the Geography curriculum, that lie within the ambit of teaching, learning and assessment.

The disappearing generation and climate change: evidence from Zimbabwe

“…Interestingly, this knowledge had been transmitted to the younger generation through riddles, songs, legends and myths. These results are consistent with previous studies (Bhatasara & Mandizadza, 2014;Chanza & Mafongoya, 2017;Mapara, 2009;Mapfumo et al, 2015;Mubaya et al, 2017;Risiro et al, 2012).…”

Public health promotion of COVID-19 vaccination to rural consumers: synthesising the role of social media and religious belief systems

“…These traditional ceremonies are done to request the ancestors to provide communities with rain and protection from pandemics. In a study carried out in the Eastern Highlands of Zimbabwe, Risiro (2020) found that traditional ceremonies were performed in sacred forests and mountains to request ancestors for good rains, good health and protection from environmental hazards.…”

Reforming the school curriculum for Ubuntu (humanness)

“…The current critical discourse on the implementation of Ubuntu as an indigenous ideology for decolonising Zimbabwe's school curriculum produced contradictory indicators. While some Heritage Studies, Social Studies, Geography and Shona language teachers were making commendable efforts to implement Ubuntu in their practice (Dzvimbo, 2019;Risiro, 2019;Viriri, 2018), most studies indicated that a considerable number of teachers harbored negative attitudes towards Ubuntu and were not interested in practising it (Gasva et al, 2021;Madzanire, 2019;Makoni et al 2020;Rutsate & Rutsate, 2021). This was due to negative attitudes towards IKS, the influence of Christianity, urbanization, and teachers' lack of knowledge of Ubuntu.…”

“…In Lack of knowledge and training on Ubuntu, and a shortage of indigenous knowledge experts conversant with Ubuntu ethos remains a major impediment to the promotion of communitarian values of knowledge sharing and co-operation between teachers and elderly community members (Makoni et al, 2020;Risiro, 2019). Not all teachers understood Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Ubuntu.…”

“…This study interrogates the implementation of Ubuntu in Zimbabwean schools by reviewing literature published on why/how teachers are aligning (or failing to align) classroom practice to the officially proclaimed philosophy of Ubuntu. Several studies (Chimbunde & Kgari-Masondo, 2021;Risiro, 2019;Sigauke, 2016;Viriri, 2018) examine how school reform and pedagogical practice in Zimbabwean primary and secondary schools incorporates (or fails to incorporate) values of Ubuntu as articulated in the New Curriculum Framework. However, to the best of the researchers' knowledge, no comprehensive review of literature has been undertaken to generate a broad overview on the successes attained and challenges encountered in integrating Ubuntu into classroom practice since the rolling out of the New Curriculum in 2015.…”