University of SaskatchewanHARVEST
  • Login
  • Submit Your Work
  • About
    • About HARVEST
    • Guidelines
    • Browse
      • All of HARVEST
      • Communities & Collections
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
      • This Collection
      • By Issue Date
      • Authors
      • Titles
      • Subjects
    • My Account
      • Login
      JavaScript is disabled for your browser. Some features of this site may not work without it.
      View Item 
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item
      • HARVEST
      • Electronic Theses and Dissertations
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations
      • View Item

      Integrating Indigenous Ecological Knowledge into Early Childhood Education in Boania Primary School, Ghana

      Thumbnail
      View/Open
      ACHARIBASAM-DISSERTATION-2021.pdf (1.185Mb)
      Date
      2021-07-14
      Author
      Acharibasam, John Bosco
      Type
      Thesis
      Degree Level
      Doctoral
      Metadata
      Show full item record
      Abstract
      In the context of Ghana and more broadly sub-Saharan Africa Western content dominates Indigenous content in early childhood education. As a result, there are increasing calls to Indigenize Early Childhood Care and Development in Ghana and sub-Saharan Africa. Coupled with increasing levels of environmental degradation these calls have centered on Indigenous Ecological Knowledges. The idea is that when integrated into early learning, Indigenous Ecological Knowledges will among other things decolonize Early Childhood Care and Development and also enhance sustainability outcomes in children by connecting them to the environment. However, few studies have examined the methodological framework for integrating Indigenous content into early learning in Ghana. To integrate Indigenous Ecological Knowledges into early childhood education, two different knowledges, Dominant Western Knowledge and Indigenous Ecological Knowledge, are being brought together. Hence there exists the possibility of one knowledge dominating the other. Therefore, this research adopted a two-eyed seeing Indigenous methodology to integrate Indigenous Ecological Knowledge into Early Childhood Environmental Education in Boania Primary School in Northern Ghana. As the holders of Indigenous knowledge, two Indigenous Elders helped to integrate the local Indigenous Ecological Knowledge into Kindergarten two (KG2) environmental studies topics by visiting the school to teach and take children out on outdoor learning activities. The main purpose of this study was to find out how Indigenous Ecological Knowledge can be integrated into Early Childhood Environmental Education curriculum and pedagogy in one rural primary school in Ghana to determine if Indigenous Ecological Knowledge could help resist the continuous domination of Early Childhood Education by Dominant Western content without privileging one form of knowledge over the other. Data were collected by using multiple methods of document analysis, participant observation, and in-depth interviews. The findings revealed that the integration of Indigenous Ecological Knowledge into Early Childhood Education improves learning outcomes by taking environmental studies outdoors and making learning more practical and experiential. Also, the two-eyed seeing methodology adopted provided a framework that prevented the further privileging of Dominant Western Knowledge over Indigenous Ecological Knowledge.
      Degree
      Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
      Department
      Educational Foundations
      Program
      Educational Foundations
      Supervisor
      McVittie , Janet
      Committee
      Balzer, Geraldine; Woodhouse, Howard; Elliot, Enid; Murphy, Shaun
      Copyright Date
      June 2021
      URI
      https://hdl.handle.net/10388/13469
      Subject
      early childhood education, environmental education, sustainability, Indigenous knowledge, Indigenous ecological knowledge, dominant western knowledge, two-eyed seeing Indigenous methodology, decolonization, knowledge domination.
      Collections
      • Graduate Theses and Dissertations

      Related items

      Showing items related by title, author, creator and subject.

      • Nonaka's theory of knowledge creation to convert tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge : a study of AIDS Saskatoon 

        Briggs, Alexa (2006-03-15)
        AIDS Saskatoon (AS), a non-profit organization, has limited funding. Most of the funding and resources for the organization go into service provision and education/prevention activities, leaving little time for strategic ...
      • The home stretch : reaching Global Water Futures knowledge users through knowledge mobilization 

        Morrison, Monica (Global Water Futures, 2022-05-26)
      • Sexual Health Knowledge and Attitudes of a Sample of Saskatchewan Post-Secondary Freshmen 

        Stauffer, (2015-02-05)
        The purpose of this study was to describe the sexual health knowledge and attitudes of a sample of Saskatchewan post secondary freshmen aged 17-19. Three primary questions guided this research: What do Saskatchewan freshmen ...
      University of Saskatchewan

      University Library

      The University of Saskatchewan's main campus is situated on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis.

      © University of Saskatchewan
      Contact Us | Disclaimer | Privacy