Border Crossing Knowledge Systems: A PNG Teacher's Autoethnography

2010 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 128-137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Medi Reta

AbstractNarratives have always been integral to Indigenous knowledge transfer. In this autoethnography the author shares her border crossings between her Indigenous knowledge systems and the often dominant Western knowledge system. Pertinent to these experiences are the stark contrasts that exist between the two knowledge systems and their educational goals. This paper opens up space for conversation amongst those educators who are keen to learn and enhance their teaching and learning experiences in schools, particularly of those students whose cultural background differs from their own.

2012 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 155-168 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mostafizur Rahman

The main focus of the study was to identify the indigenous knowledge system being used by the rural men in farming and household activities and also to examine its extent. Data were collected from Poba upazila under Rajshahi district and Gabtoli upazila under Bogra district in Bangladesh from 125 randomly selected rural men out of total population of 1,145 from 15 February to 14 May, 2009. The fifty potential indigenous knowledge systems were identified through participatory rural appraisal prior to finalizing the schedule. The findings reveal that greater proportion of rural men were illiterate, middle aged categories, small farmer category, medium agricultural and environmental knowledge category, high level farming experience, medium cosmopoliteness, medium communication exposure, no organizational participation and moderately favorable category. Among the 50 identified indigenous knowledge systems, ?Setting up bamboo sticks, branches of trees etc., in rice fields to let the birds sit and eat away insects? reached the highest extent of use by the farmers in agricultural practices. ?Soaking boro rice seeds in water for 1-3 days before sowing in the bed for rapid germination?, ?Drying mature bottle gourds (Lagenaria vulgaris) in the sun and storing the seeds inside without rupturing the fruits? and ?Keeping rice seedlings under shed for 1-2 days before transplanting for the purpose of increasing tolerance? took the 2nd, 3rd and 4th position regarding the extent of use. Considering farmers? practicing category, the highest proportion (47.2%) of the respondents belonged to the low user as compared to 39.2% in the moderate user and 13.6% in the high user. Recommendations were forwarded to the extension specialists, researchers and administrators to undertake desk and experimental research concerning indigenous knowledge systems.


Author(s):  
Zingisa Nkosinkulu

This chapter seeks to map how indigenous people and their indigenous knowledge systems are the most researched and written about in the world, yet they are the least understood. The curriculum of the empire and its scientific explanation justified how indigenous knowledge systems should be approached and viewed as well as who has the authority to justify; hence, indigenous knowledge systems were justified as inferior and not worthy of the standard of European knowledge system. In this chapter, Frantz Fanon's thought will be deployed to illustrate how this division of knowledge justifies the perpetuating dehumanisation of indigenous people under the mask of modernisation and globalisation. By deploying decoloniality, Afrocentricity, and Fanonian thought, this chapter seeks to challenge this curriculum that is based on the history of the conquest of Africa that positioned Africa only as a cradle of slaves and the black bodied as created by God only for the benefit of the Europeans.


Author(s):  
Piet Ankiewicz

Indigenous knowledge is often included artificially as an accessory by means of stereotypical examples in so-called Western, discipline-based school curricula for technology. The nature and tenets of indigenous technological knowledge have however not been investigated and documented thoroughly, creating difficulties and challenges for curriculum designers, especially including and integrating it in curricula that focus mainly on Western technology. The complementary nature of indigenous and Western knowledge systems allows for “border crossings” between these. The purpose of this article is to investigate and conceptualise the complementary nature of indigenous technology knowledge systems (ITKS) and Western technology knowledge systems by using Mitcham’s framework that is based on a Western technology knowledge system as point of departure. The findings indicate that it may be useful for curriculum designers to include indigenous technology in curricula with the purpose to illustrate the above-mentioned complementarity between ITKS and Western technology knowledge systems. Curriculum designers should focus on the common tenets of indigenous and Western technology from an ontological, epistemological, methodological and volitional perspective, rather than merely including clinical and sterile examples of indigenous knowledge in technology curricula artificially.


Author(s):  
Abhinav CHATURVEDI ◽  
Alf REHN

Innovation is one of the most popular concepts and desired phenomena of contemporary Western capitalism. As such, there is a perennial drive to capture said phenomena, and particularly to find new ways to incite and drive the same. In this text, we analyze one specific tactic through which this is done, namely by the culturally colonial appropriation of indigenous knowledge systems. By looking to how jugaad, a system   of   frugal   innovation   in   India,   has been   made   into   fodder   for   Western management literature, we argue for the need of a more developed innovation critique, e.g., by looking to postcolonial theory.


Author(s):  
Deborah McGregor

This article aims to introduce a distinct conception of Indigenous environmental justice (IEJ) based on Indigenous legal orders, knowledge systems, and conceptions of justice. This is not to suggest in any way that the existing environmental justice (EJ) scholarship is flawed; in fact, the scholarship and activism around EJ have been central in diagnosing and drawing attention to injustices that occur on a systematic basis everywhere in the world. This article argues instead that such discussions can be expanded by acknowledging that concepts of environmental justice, including distinct legal orders informed by Indigenous knowledge systems, already existed on Turtle Island for thousands of years prior to the arrival of Europeans. It also suggests that environmental justice framed within Indigenous worldviews, ontologies, and epistemologies may make significant contributions to broader EJ scholarship, particularly in relation to extending justice to other beings and entities in Creation. This approach acknowledges ongoing colonialism and emphasizes the need to decolonize in order to advance innovative approaches to IEJ. 


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