Natural Science Education, Indigenous Knowledge, and Sustainable Development in Rural and Urban Schools in Kenya

Natural Science Education, Indigenous Knowledge, and Sustainable Development in Rural and Urban Schools in Kenya

Author: Darren M. O’Hern

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-05-05

Total Pages: 174

ISBN-13: 9462095426

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Through a multi-sited qualitative study of three Kenyan secondary schools in rural Taita Hills and urban Nairobi, the volume explores the ways the dichotomy between “Western” and “indigenous” knowledge operates in Kenyan education. In particular, it examines views on natural sciences expressed by the students, teachers, the state’s curricula documents, and schools’ exam-oriented pedagogical approaches. O’Hern and Nozaki question state and local education policies and practices as they relate to natural science subjects such as agriculture, biology, and geography and their dismissal of indigenous knowledge about environment, nature, and sustainable development. They suggest the need to develop critical postcolonial curriculum policies and practices of science education to overcome knowledge-oriented binaries, emphasize sustainable development, and address the problems of inequality, the center and periphery divide, and social, cultural, and environmental injustices in Kenya and, by implication, elsewhere. “In an era of environmental crisis and devastation, education that supports sustainability and survival of our planet is needed. Within a broader sociopolitical context of post-colonialism and globalization, this volume points out possibilities and challenges to achieve such an education. The authors propose a critical, postcolonial approach that acknowledges the contextual and situational production of all knowledge, and that de-dichotomizes indigenous from ‘Western’ scientific knowledge.” Eric (Rico) Gutstein, Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, University of Illinois at Chicago (USA)


African Science Education

African Science Education

Author: Jamaine Abidogun

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-03-15

Total Pages: 343

ISBN-13: 1351668994

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Based on interrogation and review of historical and current cultural and indigenous knowledge combined with extensive curriculum and classroom analysis, this book identifies how indigenous science gender roles may be utilized to provide a more gender balanced and indigenous centered learning experience. The book argues for the integration of African indigenous science into the secondary school curriculum as a way to strengthen students’ science comprehension by affirming their society’s science contributions, making clear connections between Indigenous and Western science, and also as a way to promote female representation in the sciences. This book will be of interest to scholars and practitioners of science education, African education, and indigenous knowledge.


Rethinking Education for Sustainable Development in a Local Community Context

Rethinking Education for Sustainable Development in a Local Community Context

Author: Fumiko Noguchi

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2022-08-21

Total Pages: 164

ISBN-13: 9811694648

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This book bridges the gap between Education for Sustainable Development and community development and examines the contributions of critical environmental education as a theoretical framework to the policy, research, and practice of Education for Sustainable Development. The book investigates what Education for Sustainable Development really means when it happens from the perspectives of a marginalized individual at the very bottom of society in a local community, where there is no such ‘educational’ institution, no policy or no curriculum to support the effort, but there is the necessity of learning and empowerment for changing the situation. In particular, drawing on the experience of the indigenous Ainu fisherman, it critically examines the theoretical foundation of Education for Sustainable Development, critical environmental education, investigating methodologically and epistemologically the relevance and efficacy of critical environmental education to socially critical approaches to Education for Sustainable Development in a community development context. And this investigation leads to develop a praxis framework for socially critical Education for Sustainable Development in a community development context so that both fields would be mutually supportive to strengthen the practices.


Positioning Diversity in Kenyan Schools

Positioning Diversity in Kenyan Schools

Author: Malve von Möllendorff

Publisher: African Books Collective

Published: 2022-06-01

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 1928502342

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Education is considered key for societies to achieve greater social cohesion and equality. Yet, schools, as the main providers of formal education, have increasingly come into question concerning their role in manifesting and perpetuating social categorisations, inequalities and discrimination instead of decreasing existing fragmentations and challenging power relations and hierarchies. As a diverse society, Kenya is faced with power struggles and rivalries between different groups - for instance, along ethnic lines, often constructed deep in colonial history. This affects teaching and learning in school and the result is that Kenya is faced with vast disparities in terms of educational access and success - rendering some social groups marginalised and others favoured. Positioning Diversity at Kenyan Schools explores the ways in which teachers in Kenyan primary and secondary schools experience and deal with social categorisations and diversity in terms of ethnicity, gender, wealth, culture, religion, etc. in their professional practice and in the current education system. Using critical pedagogy and diversity theory as a lens for positioning diversity in Kenyan schools, the questions that this book sets out to answer are: In what ways do the teachers' and schools' practices lead to transformation in terms of more social equality and less discrimination? In what ways do the practices manifest existing group categorisations, hierarchies and discrimination? How can schools and teaching practices in postcolonial Kenya become more inclusive and foster social cohesion and equality?


Issues in Teaching and Learning of Education for Sustainability

Issues in Teaching and Learning of Education for Sustainability

Author: Chew-Hung Chang

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-09-25

Total Pages: 274

ISBN-13: 0429833687

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In a fast-changing, globalising world, the teaching and implementation of a curriculum for Education for Sustainability (EfS) has been a challenge for many teachers. Issues in Teaching and Learning of Education for Sustainability highlights the issues and challenges educators and academics face in implementing EfS and gives examples of what an EfS curriculum may look like and how some institutions translate the theory into practice. Organised into three parts, the volume looks at: the who (EfS for whom), the what (EfS curriculum) and the how (translating from theory to practice). The concluding chapter provides ideas and directions on where the world can proceed regarding sustainability education and how it can help in the teaching and learning of sustainability. Considering social issues such as poverty, education, health, culture and the use of natural resources, this book proposes a different path towards Education for Sustainability. Providing concrete data on the realisation of sustainable development, Issues in Teaching and Learning of Education for Sustainability will be of interest to geographers, geography educators and professionals concerned with Education for Sustainability.


The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia

The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia

Author: Lu Zhouxiang

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-07-31

Total Pages: 641

ISBN-13: 1000911683

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This handbook presents a comprehensive survey of the formation and transformation of nationalism in 15 East and Southeast Asian countries. Written by a team of international scholars from different backgrounds and disciplines, this volume offers new perspectives on studying Asian history, society, culture, and politics, and provides readers with a unique lens through which to better contextualise and understand the relationships between countries within East and Southeast Asia, and between Asia and the world. It highlights the latest developments in the field and contributes to our knowledge and understanding of nationalism and nation building. Comprehensive and clearly written, this book examines a diverse set of topics that include theoretical considerations on nationalism and internationalism; the formation of nationalism and national identity in the colonial and postcolonial eras; the relationships between traditional culture, religion, ethnicity, education, gender, technology, sport, and nationalism; the influence of popular culture on nationalism; and politics, policy, and national identity. It illustrates how nationalism helped to draw the borders between the nations of East and Southeast Asia, and how it is re-emerging in the twenty-first century to shape the region and the world into the future. The Routledge Handbook of Nationalism in East and Southeast Asia is essential reading for those interested in and studying Asian history, Social and Cultural history, and modern history.


Cyclones in Southern Africa

Cyclones in Southern Africa

Author: Godwell Nhamo

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2021-09-28

Total Pages: 334

ISBN-13: 3030743039

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Tropical cyclones in Southern Africa, also known as hurricanes or typhoons in other regions of the world, is a hot subject for academic research. This focus has been magnified by the need to consider tropical cyclones in the context of other global development agendas, that includes the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its inseparable 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Paris Agreement, the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction and Habitat III’s New Urban Agenda. The ambitious SDGs challenge global and community leaders to make sure development addresses the nexus among poverty, inequality and employment creation, as well as care for the earth and its natural resources and biodiversity. The SDGs further present an agenda to eradicate hunger, bring quality education and sustain water and sanitation. The infrastructure development, human settlements, sustainable consumption and production, climate change, biodiversity and the ocean (blue) economy agendas are also pitched. Lastly, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development encourages partnerships on delivering various programmes and projects at all spatial levels. However, as tropical cyclones continue to make multiple landfalls and ravage Southern Africa and other parts of the world, the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development is threatened. To this end, this book addresses this gap by documenting the implications of tropical cyclones, drawing examples and case studies from recent tropical cyclones such as cyclone Idai and cyclone Kenneth that resulted in catastrophic impacts in 2019. The book comes as part of a series with three volumes. The other volumes include “Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol. 1: Interfacing the Catastrophic Impact of Cyclone Idai with SDGs in Zimbabwe” and “Cyclones in Southern Africa Vol 2: Foundational and Fundamental Topics”. Given the foregoing, the book is suitable as a read for several professionals and disciplines such as tourism and hospitality studies, economics, sustainable development, development studies, environmental sciences, arts, geography, life sciences, politics, planning and public health.


Advances in Urbanism, Smart Cities, and Sustainability

Advances in Urbanism, Smart Cities, and Sustainability

Author: Uday Chatterjee

Publisher: CRC Press

Published: 2022-04-21

Total Pages: 520

ISBN-13: 1000576558

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While technology is developing at a fast pace, urban planners and cities are still behind in finding effective ways to use technology to address citizen’s needs. Multiple aspects of sustainable urbanism are brought together in this book, along with advanced technologies and their connections to urban planning and management. It integrates urban studies, smart cities, AI, IoT, remote sensing, and GIS. Highlights include land use planning, spatial planning, and ecosystem-based information to improve economic opportunities. Urban planners and engineers will understand the use of AI in disaster management and the use of GIS in finding suitable landfill sites for sustainable waste management. Features Explains the process of urban heritage conservation, including the process of urban renewal and its regeneration and the role of citizens in urban renewal, planning, and management. Includes several case studies highlighting urban environmental problems and challenges in developed and developing countries and the ways for converting urban areas into smart cities. Focuses on urban resources, the supply of energy in smart cities, and their proper management practices. Introduces the role of remote sensing, GIS, and IoT in making a smart city and meeting sustainable goals. Analyzes unique case studies, their challenges and obstacles, and proposes a set of factors to understanding smart city initiatives and projects.