Role of Indigenous knowledge in formal education: A case study of the Ateso Community

Abstract

The success of any education system depends on its aims and content. Indigenous African education has its base on the immediate environment, real and imaginary, from which many things are learnt from the ecosystem. Before independence, the missionaries introduced Western education in Kenya, which, with time, started eroding the already enriched traditional education that was inherent in all the cultural settings of communities. It first got some resistance, but with time, most communities embraced it fully, shunning away many cultural practices and settings. This then provided avenues to learn many facets of knowledge. How, then, can the current formal education be enriched by indigenous knowledge (IK)? This study sought to investigate the Ateso cultural practices that can enrich formal education, the challenges faced and possible solutions to help incorporate IK into formal education. The study used structured interviews with fifteen head teachers and fifteen deans of studies from public and private secondary schools who were purposively sampled. Five village elders from the community were also informally interviewed. An ethnographic interpretive design was used, where, for some time, the researcher lived among the Ateso community and took part in cultural events. Data was then analysed thematically using statistical software. Failure by the current curriculum to address how cultural practices can be embraced in pedagogy, lack of creativity among education stakeholders, and Westernisation are among the challenges noted for failure to incorporate IK in formal education. Its application in pedagogy can help the learners appreciate other cultures and as well acquire indigenous knowledge which they can use for their daily survival. The development of an education policy on IK, appreciation of culture, and readiness to share knowledge are vital to making this a success