CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study
Today, there is an increasing recognition of the importance of using indigenous (traditional) knowledge for contextualising school science instruction, because it forms essential part of students’ prior experiences and sources of information that they carry to school learning. Despite its proven effectiveness as useful teaching tool, there is yet no systematic effort, to develop effective framework for incorporating indigenous knowledge into school science curriculum to complement instruction process in Nigeria schools. No wonder, poor performance still persists (Erinosho, 2013).
Indigenous Knowledge System (IKS) is described in the South African Revised Curriculum Statements as a body of knowledge embedded in African philosophical thinking and social practices that have evolved over thousands of years (DOE, 2002). It is also a way for people to understand themselves (Semali & Kincheloe, 1999). Nakashima and Roue (2002) described it as sophisticated arrays of information, understandings and interpretations that guide human societies in their innumerable interactions with the natural milieu. It is the sum total of the knowledge and skills which people in a particular area possess and which enable them to get the most out of their natural environment (Mhakure & Mushaikwa, 2014; De Beer & Whitlock, 2009; Odora Hoppers, 2004). Jones and Hunter (2003), and Michie (nd)identified the following common themes embedded within indigenous knowledge that are intrinsic to its integration into the science curriculum: Based on experience; Often tested over centuries of use; Developed collective data base of observable knowledge; Adapted to local culture and environment; Dynamic and changing a living knowledge base; Application of problem solving; Oral transmission sometimes encapsulated in metaphor; Not possible to separate indigenous knowledge from ethics, spirituality, metaphysics, ceremony and social order; Bridging the science of theory with the science of practice; A holistic(indigenous knowledge) versus a reductionist(Western science) approach; An ecologically based approach; Inclusive versus the specialisation of knowledge, and contextualised versus decontextualized science.
