Intercultural science education as a trading zone between traditional and academic knowledge

Jairo Robles-Piñeros,David Ludwig,Geilsa Costa Santos Baptista,Adela Molina-Andrade

doi:10.1016/j.shpsc.2020.101337

Abstract

Intercultural science education requires negotiations between knowledge systems and of tensions between them. Building on ethnographic fieldwork and educational interventions in two farming communities in the Northeast of Brazil, we explore the potential of science education to mediate between traditional and academic knowledge. While traditional knowledge shapes agricultural practices and interactions with the environment in the villages of Coração de Maria and Retiro, academic knowledge is emphasized in biology education. On the basis of philosophical debates about “partial overlaps” between epistemologies, ontologies and value systems, we analyze relations between traditional and academic ecological knowledge in these communities and argue that they can inform reflective practices in intercultural dialogue. By investigating biology education as a “trading zone” between knowledge systems, we analyze how partial overlaps become negotiated in educational practices in rural Brazil and provide the basis for educational interventions that foster intercultural dialogue.

Highlights

Knowledge about the biological world is produced by heterogeneous epistemic communities in and beyond academia
The aim of this study has been to develop a transdisciplinary approach for navigating the relations between Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK) and Academic Ecological Knowledge (AEK) that tri angulates (1) empirical research, (2) philosophical reflection, and (3) educational intervention
We have shown that TEK and AEK are related in complex ways that involve both points of convergence and divergence

Summary

Introduction

Knowledge about the biological world is produced by heterogeneous epistemic communities in and beyond academia. As Ludwig and El-Hani (2020) have pointed out, attempts to inte grate TEK and AEK often fail in the light of different epistemologies, ontologies, and values of actors These tensions are intertwined with political questions as academic researchers and local communities tend to be in very different positions of power in enacting their epistemologies, ontologies, and values in collaborative practices.

A framework for intercultural dialogue

Study context and methods

Partial overlaps between agricultural knowledge systems

Negotiating knowledge diversity in an intercultural classroom

Negotiating partial overlaps: classrooms as trading zones

Conclusion