Source Of Indigenous Knowledge Research Articles

WIKIPEDIA'S ENLIGHTENMENT PROBLEM: DECOLONIZING WESTERN EPISTEMOLOGIES THROUGH CRITICAL OPEN EDUCATION PRACTICES

Although Wikipedia uniquely challenges the boundaries of the encyclopedic genre in terms of collaboration, technology, authority, and knowledge production, it remains an encyclopedia, an epistemological method and forum that carries with it the ideological traces and functions of Enlightenment print culture. Such print culture manifests itself most visibly in the policy of verifiability. Although verifiability ensures that editors support their claims with a reliable, published source, a concern emerges when we recognize that verifiability and reliability are typically only granted to written, published sources. Consequently, Wikipedia omits a tremendous amount of human knowledge, especially from cultures without a (privileged) history of print culture. Cultures and regions representing the global south, indigenous cultures and peoples, and other types of knowledge where an oral culture plays a large part in the transmission and curation of knowledge are simply not accounted for. Wikipedia’s vision (somewhat paradoxically) remains hindered by its adherence to colonialist epistemologies that continue to define the genre. This paper articulates Wikipedia’s colonialist epistemology problem by 1) reviewing the core content policies that prohibit alternative and indigenous sources of knowledge, especially verifiability and notability policies and 2) focusing on direct examples of the encyclopedia’s inability to represent indigenous knowledge. In linking contemporary Wikipedia policies to colonialist ideologies, we also trace the encyclopedia genre from its western predecessor, showcasing how Wikipedia continues this tradition via its own techno-optimistic rhetoric. Finally, we discuss failed attempts to address the issue of indigenous knowledge within Wikipedia, and make recommendations for its future.

IsiXhosa Proverbs and Idioms as a Reflection of Indigenous Knowledge Systems and an Education Tool

The figurative and literal meanings of IsiXhosa proverbs and idioms carry lessons about ways of life that are most significant to the young upcoming generation that is not experienced in life and still needs to learn more about their customs and culture. Proverbs and idioms are a source of indigenous knowledge that could be useful in guiding, instilling a sense of pride and helping to establish an identity. This paper will analyse proverbs and idioms, extracting life lessons that can be useful in grooming and educating Xhosa children.

Employing cultural and indigenous sources of knowledge in the context of semiruralschools

The study was conducted to gain insight into the pegagogical approaches and practices of physical science teachers who used cultural and indigenous knowledge in some way in semirural schools. All the schools were situated in environments with a low socioeconomic index and none of the schools had a science laboratory or equipment available for teaching physical science. The theoretical frame emanates from constructs as described in cultural border-crossing and culturally relevant pedagogy. Four cases were identified and the narrative data analysed, using the Banks Topology which describes four levels of indigenous knowledge integration. The implication of the four categorised cases is that they may be critically unpacked during the professional development and preservice preparation of teachers who have to teach physical science to multicultural learners.

Education policy borrowing in China: has the West wind overpowered the East wind?

Recent education reform in China reflects the global trend of education policy borrowing from Anglophone countries such as the USA. The reform in China essentially advocates shifting from knowledge reproduction and didacticism to knowledge construction by students through a learner-centredness approach. Aware of the trend of borrowing policy from ‘Western’ countries, some educators in China use the proverb ‘the West wind has overpowered the East wind’ to describe this phenomenon. This paper examines the cultural factors that influence education policy borrowing in China by drawing upon Johnson’s metaphors of the ‘politics of selling’ and the ‘politics of gelling’. This paper argues that there exist fundamental cultural differences between Western and Chinese perspectives on the nature and transmission of knowledge that make education policy transfer in China challenging. This paper further proposes that China borrow education policy judiciously by integrating foreign and indigenous sources of knowledge, teaching and learning.

Educational policy trajectories in an era of globalization: Singapore and Cambodia

This paper critically discusses the educational policy trajectories of Singapore and Cambodia in an era of globalization. Drawing upon David Johnson’s five metaphors to describe the historical and political forces that shape educational policy trajectories, the paper argues that Cambodia’s current educational policy trajectory is characterized by the “politics of compelling” while Singapore’s situation is more akin to the “politics of selling”. In Singapore, the politics of selling intersects with the politics of gelling, in which various interest groups are encouraged to work together to strengthen the new economy of knowledge. The paper raises a common challenge for Singapore and Cambodia: to shift from a traditional teacher-centred and textbook-based approach to a more student-centred and ICT-based approach in a globalized world. The last section of this paper explores the possibility of addressing this challenge through gelling, by setting a new agenda for education, one that combines foreign and indigenous sources of knowledge from various interest groups.

Agnes Blannbekin (d 1315): Lay Female Mysticism as a Source of Indigenous Knowledge

Agnes Blannbekin was a Viennese Beguine of the high middle ages whose 235 revelations were written down in Latin by her confessor. Beguines were lay women who followed a spiritual lifestyle independent from the bondage of marriage on the one hand, and the seclusion of life in a nunnery on the other. The Beguines being grass-roots spirituals living amongst the people, makes it possible for us to explore Blannbekin's work as a source of indigenous knowledge. The study of indigenous knowledge systems presents a recent focus in research, and invites also the medievalist to study texts from this perspective. Blannbekin's work is therefore studied in this essay within categories provided by indigenous knowledge research, that is, traditional healing, food and nature, (female) culture, religion, art, sexuality and bodiness, as well as the formation of governance.

Indian women and the environment: vulnerability, efforts, and opportunities

For centuries, women around the world have been the source of indigenous knowledge to preserve and protect natural resources. However, society has continued to neglect this productive role of women in the conservation of the environment. This paper provides a preliminary map of the extent of Indian women's vulnerability to environmental degradation associated with resources such as water, agricultural, forests, energy, etc. It also attempts to record and discuss the contributions of women, the Indian government, Non–Governmental Organizations (NGOs), and other agencies towards environmental protection as well as other issues linking women and the environment.