Science educators often emphasise only the empirical and inferential nature of the natural sciences but fail to stress that science, as a human endeavour, is also creative. 
 

In my ongoing research, I have completed studies which recorded and analysed the rich ethnobotanical knowledge held by people in Southern Bushmanland. During my research, I became convinced that the natural sciences and arts require discovery, observation, experimentation, description, interpretation, analysis and evaluation.

Currently, mere lip service is paid to indigenous knowledge in the South African school curriculum (the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement or CAPS), which acknowledges indigenous knowledge as one of seven principles underpinning the curriculum. 

The CAPS document states: “Indigenous knowledge includes knowledge about agriculture and food production, pastoral practices and animal production, forestry, plant classification, medicinal plants, management of biodiversity, food preservation, management of soil and water, iron smelting, brewing, making dwellings and understanding astronomy. As society changes, some of that knowledge is being lost. People such as biologists, pharmacists and archaeologists are seeking it out and writing it down before it is gone.” 

However, apart from such general statements, more guidance is needed on how indigenous knowledge could be infused into curriculum themes. There is an urgency to train teachers on such epistemological border-crossing and to provide the necessary teaching and learning resources to schools. In conclusion, my research recommended that the Department of Basic Education should refine its policy documents and provide guidance and learning resources to ensure that indigenous knowledge receives the necessary attention in the school curriculum. 

But while the policymakers take little to no action, there are things that can be done in the classroom to bridge the divide between science, indigenous knowledge and the arts.

There is a stronger focus now to include the arts in the mathematics, science, engineering and mathematics (STEM) cluster, and STEAM approaches (the ‘A’ representing arts) in education are building up momentum. 
 

Indigenous knowledge holds affordances also to develop entrepreneurial mindsets in learners - an important consideration in a country crippled by high unemployment. One example is the indigenous knowledge holders in the Giyani district in Limpopo who have an environmentally friendly solution to harmful insecticides. The local people of Giyani have been using the plant Lippia javanica (fever tree) as an insect repellent for decades. The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in conjunction with the local community, has registered a patent using Lippia javanica as insect repellent. Clinical tests on the widely used citronella oil as a mosquito repellent showed a success rate of 40%, while the oils in Lippia javanica seem to be 95% effective. The CSIR initiated a project where unemployed people in Giyani are involved in a project where candles are made from the active ingredients in Lippia javanica. The proceeds from selling these candles put food on tables. 

The UWC Science Learning Centre for Africa (SLCA) invited school learners in the Western Cape to submit artwork for this year’s National Science Week celebration. The learners' artwork focuses on expressing their views on the role of mathematics, science and technology in our daily lives. Such an approach holds affordances to address affective outcomes, such as learners’ interest in science, values and positive attitudes towards the natural sciences. It also provides a way for learners to give expression to multiple intelligences. Such STEAM approaches involve more than just the visual arts. Drama and puppetry can also be very effective pedagogies to use in the STEM classroom. Research shows that drama and puppetry create educational opportunities to present authentic problems rooted in learners’ everyday experiences, enabling them to think creatively.

The San expressed their views and knowledge of the universe and nature through art, namely in their rock art. For this reason, the SLCA Board decided to have as its theme for the 5 August 2023 celebration, ‘Khoisan knowledge, science and memory’. True to UWC’s motto of ‘Respice Prospice’, or in English, ‘to look back, to look forward’, we need to acknowledge the value of our rich indigenous knowledge that will assist the people of our country (and today’s learners) to move forward, and to be competitive in the scientific arena on an international level. 

BIOGRAPHY OF PROF JOSEF DE BEER

Professor Josef de Beer was appointed as the Director of the Science Learning Centre for Africa in April 2022. Previously, he held the position of research professor at North-West University (2015 – 2022), and he has a C1 NRF rating.

Prof de Beer’s research project, “Teachers without borders: Creating indigenous knowledge science labs in rural schools”, was selected as one of twelve flagship programmes funded by the Fuchs Foundation.

He has 31 years of teaching experience in higher education (three years in the Faculty of Science at the University of Pretoria; the other 28 years in teacher education at Vista University, the University of Johannesburg, and North-West University, respectively), and currently at UWC. Teaching accolades include the HELTASA National Excellence in Teaching Award that he received in 2009, and the University of Johannesburg’s Vice- Chancellor's Distinguished Award for Teaching Excellence in 2008. Research recognition includes the USA-based National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) Research Award that he received in 2012.
 

 The theme for the National Science Week event (5 August) at UWC is Khoisan Knowledge, Science & Memory. The programme includes a gallery walk where the artworks of  learners and lziko Museum will be on display.