Using the School Environmental Education Programme (SEEP) to Decolonise the Curriculum: Lessons from Ufasimba Primary School in South Africa

Abstract

The topic of decolonisation has become a contested terrain because of the curriculum challenges facing education systems in Africa, particularly South Africa. To address these challenges, many scholars have underscored the importance of using socio-culturally relevant curricula in Africa. This article is divided into two sections. First, it explores challenges facing education systems in Africa and how decolonisation and socio-culturally relevant curricula, resources, and teacher training can provide answers to those challenges. Then the article explains how Ufasimba Primary School emerged as a school where the School Environmental Education Programme (SEEP) was used to decolonise the curriculum. The challenge, however, was that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) in the KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa had not made it mandatory for schools to implement the SEEP. This study recommends that the integration of the SEEP into the curriculum should be mandatory at primary education level. A qualitative approach and a grounded theory method, underpinned by the social constructivist paradigm, were used for this study. Data collection methods included semi-structured interviews and the observation method. The basic principles of grounded theory and the NVivo software program assisted in the data analysis for this study.

The Decolonisation of Climate Change and Environmental Education in Africa

“…Closely related to the place-based education approach is an integrative curriculum approach, which was captured by Kerr et al [102], Zimu-Biyela [4], Duggan et al [118], Magagula [119], and Nielsen et al [104]. Curriculum integration emphasises the need to combine or synthesise academic and seemingly non-academic content and deliver learning in ways that are reinforcing [120].…”

“…It drew practical exercises from local and community environments while incorporating data from their regional marine science study. Also, Zimu-Biyela [4] documents lessons from the School Environmental Education Programme (SEEP). The SEEP was implemented in one primary school in the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa in 2013.…”

“…It integrated various school subjects and small projects that focused on the environment, which were sometimes delivered through songs and folklore that directly involved the learners, giving space to Indigenous insights. The project helped to promote the use of ILK as well as innovative and creative thinking among learners and educators [4]. There was limited information on the extent to which integrative projects created adequate space for Indigenous knowledge.…”

“…The findings are particularly relevant to all levels of formal education (primary, secondary, and tertiary) in Africa. They add to the existing demands to decolonise CCEE to reduce vulnerabilities and maximize mitigation and adaptation efforts [2][3][4]. The continent's need for a decolonised knowledge system is rooted in Africa's colonial and postcolonial histories that displaced the pristine local knowledge systems and solutions with exogenous systems that are divorced from the people's socio-cultural experiences [5,6].…”

“…Decolonisation of education requires deliberate efforts and recognition of the influences of dominant groups, ensuring the epistemic values of marginalised groups, that is, their views and voices, are adequately respected and integrated [28]. In respective contexts of African societies, it means taking conscious steps towards developing and implementing an education curriculum that centres on their original knowledge systems, discourses, contents, experiences, languages, and methodologies [4,26].…”