Institutionalizing the intangible through research and engagement: Indigenous knowledge and higher education for sustainable development in Zambia

Mbah, Marcellus; Johnson, Ane Turner; Chipindi, Ferdinand Mwaka

doi:10.1016/j.ijedudev.2021.102355

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 31 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Although IKSs are increasingly being engaged in mainstream institutions such as universities (Mbah, Johnson & Chipindi, 2021;Moahi, 2012;Gilmore & Smith, 2005), only particular aspects are usually recognised, such as herbal medicine (Anywar et al 2020;Kamboj, 2000). This is due to the perceived problematic nature of the wider worldviews of Indigenous people, which are felt to require scrutiny for appropriateness and, in particular, are judged against the scientific method (Briggs & Sharp, 2004;Barasa, 2009).…”

Section: Indigenous Knowledge and The Academymentioning

confidence: 99%

Envisioning the Indigenised university for sustainable development

Mbah

Ajaps

Johnson

et al. 2022

IJSHE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose While the possibility of a university fostering sustainable development is present in the extant literature and policy documents, the idea still warrants further consideration. Therefore, this paper aims to identify the nature and outcomes of the university’s engagement with Indigenous communities and perceptions of Indigenous knowledge systems in both academic and non-academic activities, and what might be required to foster the university’s contributions towards sustainable development. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative case study of the only public university in The Gambia was conducted, including non-university actors. Interviews and focus group discussion methods were used, and these enabled close collaboration between researchers and participants, and the latter were empowered to describe their perceptions of reality. Findings Three major sets of findings emerged from the analysis of the transcripts from interviews and focus group discussions with the university and community members. These are the limited nature of and outcomes from university–community engagement, the sustainable outcomes of Indigenous practices and ideas for Indigenising university engagement for sustainable development. Practical implications Particular implications of the study that underpins this paper can be underscored; these include: a contribution to the literature on ways of connecting Indigenous communities with universities, and to a conceptualisation of the Indigenised university; a provision of insights into the connectivity between university community engagement, Indigenous knowledge systems and sustainable development; the creation of a context for subsequent studies on practical steps that universities might take in the direction of epistemic justice and sustainable development for all; and heightening the intractability of theoretical and philosophical issues of epistemology, knowledge ecology and epistemological justice, as they reveal themselves in practice, in complex situations. Originality/value Matters of the university reaching out to Indigenous peoples have yet to find their way into conceptualisations of the university for sustainable development. This paper addresses this gap in the existing literature by advancing possibilities for the Indigenised university for sustainable development to emerge.

show abstract

Section: Indigenous Knowledge and The Academymentioning

confidence: 99%

Envisioning the Indigenised university for sustainable development

Mbah

Ajaps

Johnson

et al. 2022

IJSHE

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…El CC, es una tradición arraigada en las IES de EE.UU, para promocionar la democracia, y los valores sociales, (Alcantar, 2017;Grobbelaar et al, 2017;Mitchell et al, 2019), Campus Compact, es un claro ejemplo de ello. La ER, es una propuesta difundida por las IES en Europa, (Jiménez et al, 2021) proyectándose a otros lugares (Mbah et al,2021). Finalmente, la EXTU y la RSU, es un aporte de Latinoamérica fundamentado en la solidaridad, característica relevante de la misión de las IES.…”

Section: Figura 5 Orientaciones En La Relación De Las Ies Con El Entornounclassified

“…Asimismo, el CUC, ha tenido una gran receptividad en Sudáfrica por la herencia del apartheid, la pobreza, el escaso desarrollo socioeconómico y humano y la creciente carga sanitaria, obligando a las IES a desarrollar una mayor sensibilidad social reconsiderando cómo la enseñanza, y la investigación, pueden favorecer el compromiso con la comunidad, para transformar las sociedades (Bhagwan, 2018(Bhagwan, , 2020Exner et al, 2017;Grobbelaar et al, 2017;Joseph y Carolissen, 2019;Mbah et al,2021).…”

Section: Cuc Y Rsuunclassified

Interacción de las Instituciones de Educación Superior con el entorno: orientaciones, finalidades y estrategias. Una revisión sistemática de la literatura 2017-2021

Jiménez

Oñate

Pinto

2022

ETiE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

La incidencia social de las Instituciones de Educación Superior (IES) asume los planteamientos de la Organización de las Naciones Unidas para la Educación, la Ciencia y la Cultura (UNESCO) de promover el bien común en la sociedad. Esto ha generado algunos debates y artículos científicos con diversas interpretaciones: Responsabilidad social universitaria (RSU), Compromiso universidad-comunidad (CUC) y Compromiso cívico (CC). Por tal razón, es relevante analizar los procesos desarrollados por las IES desde dichos planteamientos. Por ello, se realizó una revisión sistemática donde se revisaron 53 artículos publicados entre el 2017 y el 2021 provenientes de cinco bases de datos, para contrastar las orientaciones, finalidades y estrategias implementadas por las IES en diferentes contextos geográficos y culturales. Los resultados muestran que las IES comparten finalidades como: la promoción de comportamientos éticos y socialmente responsables, la promoción de valores democráticos, la promoción del desarrollo sostenible, el aprendizaje a lo largo de la vida y la promoción de habilidades para mejorar la empleabilidad. Asimismo, se concluye que la RSU, es la orientación cada vez más elegida por las IES para relacionarse con el entorno, por integrar los procesos de gestión, participación con las funciones sustantivas de la educación superior, interdependencia que busca crear impactos positivos a nivel personal y colectivo, en el horizonte del bien común expresados en comportamientos ciudadanos con criterios éticos y responsables. Palabras clave: Instituciones de educación superior, Bien común, Responsabilidad social universitaria, Compromiso universidad-comunidad, Compromiso cívico

show abstract

“…So far, studies from Ghana have revealed that cultural diversity experience, social responsibility and students as partners are keys to stimulate civic participation among university students (Owusu-Agyeman and Fourie-Malherbe, 2021). Furthermore, in the post-colonial era, educational research from Zambia emphasises the importance of incorporating indigenous knowledge systems into African universities to foster sustainable development in society (Mbah et al , 2021). Similar findings exist in a project for undergraduate students on tackling forest-related community problems in Kenya (Munezero and Bekuta, 2016) and in the annual “International Training Course on Organic Agriculture” where undergraduates from different disciplines and countries meet farmers in Uganda and other key stakeholders to find possible ways to promote sustainable development.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Encouraging social innovation for combating poverty: master’s students’ gendered experiences with a service-learning intervention in Kenya and Uganda

Wao

Otendo

Syonguvi

et al. 2022

SGPE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose This study aims to understand master’s students’ experiences of service-learning, following their participation in a workshop with local social innovators whose activities had contributed to combating poverty in East Africa and to determine how this participation affected work on the students’ theses. The authors also explored possible gender differences in this context. Design/methodology/approach The study was based on pretest–posttest mixed methods research design. Data were collected from master’s students within the social sciences and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines, respectively, in Kenya and Uganda, via surveys and interviews before the workshop, immediately afterwards and six months later. Findings Students’ immediate experience was that the workshop contributed to increased critical awareness, adoption of transdisciplinary community-serving approaches and strengthened self-confidence. Six months later, most had related their projects to social problems (e.g. poverty) in their communities. Moreover, the results motivated integration of gender-sensitive curricula based on service-learning in East Africa. Practical implications Based on the results, the authors suggest a framework for gender-sensitive curriculum development that can stimulate service-learning in master’s students. Implementation of such a curriculum could eventually contribute to community development, including, e.g. poverty reduction. Originality/value Studies on service-learning are rare in Africa, especially in postgraduate education. Gender-sensitive studies on service-learning are generally scarce and the same holds for studies on encouraging STEM students to integrate social innovation into their thesis work. By combining these aspects, this study presents an original contribution to existing research.

show abstract

Institutionalizing the intangible through research and engagement: Indigenous knowledge and higher education for sustainable development in Zambia

Cited by 25 publications

References 31 publications

Envisioning the Indigenised university for sustainable development

Envisioning the Indigenised university for sustainable development

Interacción de las Instituciones de Educación Superior con el entorno: orientaciones, finalidades y estrategias. Una revisión sistemática de la literatura 2017-2021

Encouraging social innovation for combating poverty: master’s students’ gendered experiences with a service-learning intervention in Kenya and Uganda

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About