Indigenous knowledge provides specific views of the world held by various indigenous peoples. It offers different views on nature and science that generally differ from traditional Western science. Futhermore, it introduces different perspectives on nature and the human in nature. Coming basically from a Western perspective on nature and science,…

The aim of this case study was to explore students' application of chemical concepts and their use of arguments in an educational research framework to incorporate and reconstruct indigenous science in chemistry education. This framework fosters education for sustainable development (ESD) in chemistry learning by integrating intercultural and…

The issue of Indigenous engagement, participation and success in the sciences is a concern both in Australia and in Canada. The authors of this paper have taught Indigenous students in tertiary enabling programs, undergraduate science and science education. Their experiences bridging Indigenous and Western cultures in science and science education…

The worldview within indigenous people's traditional knowledge and western science can be a world of difference. In order to help indigenous students cross the gap and develop a sense of cultural identification. Taking Bunun, one of the Taiwanese indigenous tribes, as our subject, this study aims to develop a teaching module through Bunun's Millet…

We describe a philosophy and process by which cultural awareness and traditional ways of knowing were incorporated into courses on communicating ocean sciences for college and graduate students in Hawai'i. The result is a culturally relevant framework that contextualizes the course for Hawai'i audiences while also enabling students to better…

This preliminary ethnographic investigation focused on how Indigenous traditional wisdom can be incorporated into school science and what students learned as a result. Participants included community elders and knowledge keepers, as well as 4th grade (10-year-old) students, all of Amis ancestry, an Indigenous tribe in Taiwan. The students'…

Where you live should have something to do with what you teach. In the Arctic, the idea of place-based education--teaching and sharing knowledge that is needed to live well--is central to the UARCTIC consortium and the 4th International Polar Year educational reform effort. A place-based issue oriented context can engage students in chemistry…

In pursuance of one of the goals of the new South African curriculum to integrate science with Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS), this study, which forms part of a larger study, is concerned with determining teachers' and learners' conceptions of a number of familiar natural phenomena. Several recent studies have indicated that: (1) learners do…

This forum constitutes a cogenerative inquiry using postcolonial theory drawn from the review paper by Zembylas and Avraamidou. Three teacher educators from African, Asian and Caribbean countries reflect on problems confronting their professional practices and consider the prospects of creating culturally inclusive science education. We learn that…

Explanations of natural phenomena within a traditional Native American context are often at odds with Western scientific philosophy and what is taught in school science. Herein lies a very real conflict between two distinctly different worldviews: the mutualistic/holistic-oriented worldview of Native American cultures and the…