Gesturing Toward Decolonizing STEM Education: The Pedagogic Role of African Indigenous Knowledge Systems

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Friday 8:00 am Four Seasons Ballroom 1
  In Roundtable Session: Decolonial Perspectives in STE(A)M Education, AI, and Gaming (Table 6)

Abstract

This study explores the role of African Indigenous knowledge systems (AIKS) and African Indigenous pedagogies in decolonizing and transforming STEM learning. Employing an Indigenous research methodology, data for this study were gathered from 20 STEM teachers in Ghana. The study reveals that Ghanaian STEM teachers had a strong positive belief regarding the importance of integrating AIKS into STEM learning. The study also found that integrating Indigenous Ghanaian games, songs, stories, and languages in teaching STEM can help students to better relate to the lesson content, increase classroom engagement, and improve their retention and fluency in these subjects. The study uncovers the omnipresence of coloniality in and within curricula content and pedagogies in Ghana and how they shape STEM education.

Author

• Kenneth Gyamerah, Ontario Tech University