Contextualization of Indigenous Knowledge in the Selected Elementary Schools

Abstract

This study focused on the contextualization of indigenous knowledge in selected elementary schools in the La Trinidad District. The knowledge of teachers in contextualizing Indigenous Knowledge is limited to translation of words and mentioning practices; teachers are limited to teaching only what is available at hand without mapping what needs to be learned on Indigenous Knowledge; essential Indigenous Knowledge lessons and practices are not identified in different levels of the curriculum; and challenges of teachers are in instruction, curriculum, teachers and L1 of learners. The informal interview was used as the main instrument in gathering the needed data for this study. The results were narrated and analyzed citing direct quotes and narratives from the respondents. The presentation of the data included direct quotes from verbal narratives to enrich the themes that emerged during the interview. The findings revealed that the respondents’ knowledge of contextualization was the use of the different mother tongue of the learners and the use of available indigenous resources. The contextualization teaching practices in using Indigenous Knowledge were the basics of localization and indigenization; the respondents frequently made use of contextualized teaching practices on Indigenous Knowledge; and the teachers encountered challenges categorized as to teachers; learners; and parental and other stakeholders.