Millennial science student teachers' views on decolonisation and culturally responsive teaching

Abstract

Globally, the striving for decolonised education and acknowledgement of a nation's values, skills, beliefs, and acquisition of knowledge is being debated. In science education, the integration of cultural values and beliefs into the science curriculum is often ignored, which contributes to students being unable to express their individual views during interactive class discussions. This study therefore aimed to engage millennial science student teachers (n = 120) at a South African university in an action research study to express their views on decolonisation and culturally responsive teaching. The responses were categorised according to the themes of the Hernandez, Morales, and Shroyer (2013) model, which includes content integration, facilitation of knowledge construction, prejudice reduction, social justice, and academic development. The findings indicated that a cross-cultural perspective should be used (with balance between Euro-American centric sciences and indigenous knowledge from diverse cultures), that students should be instructed in their mother tongue, and that content needs to be connected to familiar everyday life experiences. The findings further amplified the importance of technology-assisted methods, the application of various integrated learning methods in science education, and inclusion in science curricula of the science role models of various cultures.

Exploration of Culturally Responsive Teaching and Problem-Based Learning in The Diverse Learning of Prospective Science Teachers

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Integrating Local Knowledge on Cactus Pear from Brazilian Northeastern Communities for Culturally Responsive Chemistry Teaching

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“…Other studies confirm the effectiveness of group discussions, visual aids, and hands-on practices for academic development in CRST. 18,24 Students were asked if the activities enhanced their understanding of the saponification reaction and to describe it along with the cleaning action of the soap. Most students (92%) demonstrated a solid understanding of the saponification reaction, while 90% could properly describe the cleaning action of soap and explain why water alone is insufficient for removing dirt.…”

“…The integration of diverse knowledge is a requirement for an effective CRST . The content integration category was evident through the merging of scientific and rural knowledge, honoring the cultural background of rural students, and facilitating engagement and learning outcomes.…”

Differentiated Instruction Around the World. A Global Inclusive Insight

“…An innovative school curriculum requires that students should be taught indigenous content within the context of their societal and cultural knowledge, and that students should be able to apply the acquired knowledge and skills in real-life situations (Mawere, 2015). Moreover, effective education is also influenced by English second language instruction (de Jager, 2019). When adapting teaching strategies to include all students' needs, teachers spend more time on explaining English words using code switching, where a concept has to be explained in two languages -the home language and English ( Van der Berg, 2015).…”