scholarly journals Legitimizing indigenous knowledge in Zimbabwe: A theoretical analysis of postcolonial school knowledge and its colonial legacy

2006 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edward Shizha
Keyword(s):  
Indigenous Knowledge ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
School Knowledge ◽  
Colonial Legacy ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Informal Knowledge ◽  
Self Confidence ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Postcolonial States

This article is a theoretical discussion on the social construction of knowledge in colonial and postcolonial Zimbabwe. It examines effects of hegemonic knowledge constructions and how they may be de-legitimated through incorporating indigenous knowledge in postcolonial school curricular. The article questions the importance attached to Euro-centric school knowledge and the devaluation of indigenous knowledge in postcolonial states. It further argues that indigenous knowledge as informal knowledge plays a major role in society and should be formalized in educational institutions to constitute a transformative and inclusive educational system. The article proposes hybridization of knowledge to give voice to the formerly marginalized in school curricular in Zimbabwe. It also proposes that knowledge as a historical, cultural, social, spiritual and ideological creation should be a product of collaborated efforts from all possible stakeholders to foster social development and self-confidence in individuals.

Lessons Learned … About Curriculum: Five Years on and Half a World Away

2005 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 111-126 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doune Macdonald ◽  
Lisa Hunter
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
National Standards ◽  
Primary Field ◽  
Health And Physical Education ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Selection Of

The knowledge, skills, and attitudes manifested in health and physical education school curricula are an arbitrary selection of that which is known and valued at a particular place and time. Bernstein’s (2000) theories of the social construction of knowledge offer a way to better understand the relationship between the production, selection, and reproduction of curricular knowledge. This article overviews contemporary knowledge in the primary field (production) upon which curriculum writers in the recontextualizing field may draw. It highlights tensions in the knowledge generated within the primary field and, using a case of the USA’s National Standards for Physical Education (NASPE), demonstrates how particular discourses become privileged when translated into curriculum documents in the recontextualizing field.

‘Civil skepticism’ and the social construction of knowledge: A case in dendroclimatology

2018 ◽  
Vol 48 (6) ◽  
pp. 821-845 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meritxell Ramírez-i-Ollé
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Science And Technology Studies ◽  
Sociological Theory ◽  
Global Climate ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Blue Intensity

Early Science and Technology Studies (STS) scholars recognized that the social construction of knowledge depends on skepticism’s parasitic relationship to background expectations and trust. Subsequent generations have paid less empirical attention to skepticism in science and its relationship with trust. I seek to rehabilitate skepticism in STS – particularly, Merton’s view of skepticism as a scientific norm sustained by trust among status peers – with a study of what I call ‘civil skepticism’. The empirical grounding is a case in contemporary dendroclimatology and the development of a method (‘Blue Intensity’) for generating knowledge about climate change from trees. I present a sequence of four instances of civil skepticism involved in making Blue Intensity more resistant to critique, and hence credible (in laboratory experiments, workshops, conferences, and peer-review of articles). These skeptical interactions depended upon maintaining communal notions of civility among an increasingly extended network of mutually trusted peers through a variety of means: by making Blue Intensity complementary to existing methods used to study a diverse natural world (tree-ring patterns) and by contributing to a shared professional goal (the study of global climate change). I conclude with a sociological theory about the role of civil skepticism in constituting knowledge-claims of greater generality and relevance.

Learning in Discussion Forums

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Don Davis ◽  
Vittorio Marone
Keyword(s):  
Social Construction ◽  
Online Discussion ◽  
Game Studies ◽  
Discussion Forums ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Affinity Spaces ◽  
Online Discussion Forums ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Gaming Communities

In the learning sciences and game studies communities, there has been an increasing interest in the potential of game-related “paratexts” and “surrounds” in supporting learning, such as online discussion forums and gaming affinity spaces. While there have been studies identifying how learning occurs in such communities, little research has been done on learning at the aggregate level. This study examined the social construction of knowledge in two sections of the discussion forums in the TUG (“The Untitled Game”) gaming affinity space. Findings suggest that game-like prompts and sections in online discussion forums can spur higher level forms of interaction and learning and can have implications for the design of gaming communities in which the social construction of knowledge is a desired outcome.

Curriculum Construction: A Critical Analysis of Rich Tasks in the Recontextualisation Field

2007 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 112-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doune Macdonald ◽  
Lisa Hunter ◽  
Richard Tinning
Keyword(s):  
Primary Field ◽  
Health And Physical Education ◽  
Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
Assessment Tasks ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Construction Of Knowledge ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Curriculum Construction ◽  
Do So ◽  
Rich Tasks

Within Education Queensland's recent ‘new basics' curriculum initiative, Education Queensland developed 20 transdisciplinary learning and assessment tasks for Years 1 to 9, called ‘rich tasks’. This paper critiques two of the rich tasks that were most closely aligned to knowledge and skills within the health and physical education learning area. To do so we draw on Bernstein's (1996) theory of the social construction of knowledge. Through this framework we analyse how two rich tasks recontextualise the discourses from the primary field in the production of the highly-valued healthy citizen. We argue that these particular rich tasks do not fully realise the tenets of the new basics agenda and, more broadly, of contemporary physical activity and health discourses. We conclude that, for curriculum artefacts to be meaningful, curriculum makers must be informed by closer attention to the primary field of knowledge.

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