5.1 Contextualising teaching of a subject-based curriculum
5.2 Contextualising language
5.3 Contextualising science
5.4 Contextualising mathematics
5.5 Contextualising food, nutrition and health
5.6 Contextualising social studies
5.7 Application of the theory into practice
As mentioned in the previous section, the majority of curricula being used in primary schools are subject-based. A teacher will need to recognise, therefore, which aspects of the specific subject matter are amenable to contextualisation, by identifying elements which provide a direct link to the experience of most or all of the learners. This section highlights different curriculum areas which could be treated in this way, and pays attention, particularly, to the use of agriculture as a contextualising medium. As Riedmiller and Mades (1991) state:
"The handling of regular school subjects is localised, by relating the topics of the separate subject syllabi to the local environment; in this way, the subject is the point of origin; the environment then functions as a teaching aid to illustrate academic themes and to serve as a practical ground for applying the acquired knowledge and skills".
One of the reasons that primary school children in developing countries appear to face difficulties with the study of science and mathematics is that the language of instruction is unfamiliar to them (Eisemon, 1989). Cleghorn et al (1989) describe, for example, the situation in Kenya where restrictions on the use of languages other than English during instruction may ultimately hamper student understanding of important concepts. When instruction is in a second language and when the concepts being taught lack equivalence in the students' language and culture, teaching involves a process of "dual translation".
Solomon (1987) notes that most cross-cultural studies in science education lean heavily upon the use of language to explore different meanings. This implies that cultural variation implies different ways of perceiving nature, and also, perhaps, that different languages directly affect how nature is understood. It seems to be the mother tongue, rather than the language of the school, which most affects the conceptual profile of children.
Vygotsky (1978) held that children's language "turns inward" to become the basis of inner speech and so of thought itself. This is not a problem where the curriculum is taught in the local language, but there are cases where subjects such as science and mathematics are taught in English, French or Portuguese, and these are not the first language of the child. Strevens (1976) made the point that most studies in the philosophy and the practice of science education embody two unstated assumptions: first that all the learners are members of the same culture, and also that they have the same common mother tongue. These assumptions are false in the case of developing countries. For example, in many rural schools, there might be different dialects spoken by teachers and pupils; there are cases when teachers have been posted to schools where a completely different language is spoken to their own. Another problem occurs when text books and learning materials are written in a different dialect or language than the "first" language of the children. Consequently, these pupils are disadvantaged in terms of language, not because their own is inferior or inadequate, but because they are required to conceptualise using words unfamiliar to them.
Strevens (1976) observed that the following problems were particularly common:
· unanalysed difficulties of mutual comprehension between teacher and pupil, especially in spoken English;· the absence in the learner's own language of a word of expression equivalent to one in English;
· the absence in the learner's own language or culture, of a necessary concept;
· word-order difficulties (e.g. syntax, lack of familiarity with common everyday roots from Greek and Latin that enter the scientific vocabulary, lack of precision in the use of language, interference from non-decimal counting systems).
Agriculture could provide a means of solving some of these problems, as the use of metaphors unfamiliar to the children constitutes an impediment to the learner's understanding. If the teacher allowed children to construct metaphors and analogies using their own language and based on their own agricultural experience, this could be an aid to deeper understanding of complex topics. Bude (1993) describes how children in schools in Cameroon use the medium of folk tales and fairy stories as metaphors and analogies, many of which are grounded in an agricultural context. Cleghorn et al (1989) point out that when language restriction does not operate strongly in practice, as in the case of Kenya's rural schools, locally relevant examples are more easily brought into the lesson along with the occasional local term, hence meaning is better communicated.
Children could also relate abstract concepts which are alien to their own culture through the medium of their experience of agriculture and local practice. Connections can be made between the concrete cultural world outside the school and the semantic organisation of the abstract world being constructed through science lessons. Strevens (1976) points out that in many cultures measures are seldom exact, since approximation is more practical. In other cultures, weight and measures of weight are new ideas. The essential point, however, is that although a society and language may not employ concepts and terms that are identical with those of Western science, they will certainly have some concepts and terms which refer to number, measurement, agriculture, architecture, engineering, medicine, botany, and other fields of scientific activity. The cognitive task for the learner of science through English for example, is the acquisition of fresh attitudes towards observation and of terms for ideas which are partly new to him or her and partly just different from those already familiar. Agriculture can help to achieve a smooth transmission from one stage to another since new concepts will be incorporated in a familiar topic.
Agricultural practice in many countries is also closely related to beliefs which do not fit into a Western "logical framework", such as magic, superstition and ritual. There is now a recognition that much superstition is actually based on sound scientific principles, although not articulated in this way; a medium such as agriculture could help to identify the links between "modern" and "traditional" thought, demonstrate that these are not always mutually exclusive, and at the same time enable learners to understand scientific concepts and processes which are beyond their experience.
Cleghorn et al (1989) highlight one major problem associated with the use of local languages at primary school level. As a result of using local languages, it is thought that children may fail to advance quickly enough in the official medium of instruction. When this is an examinable subject, and even a prerequisite for promotion to secondary school, failure to read and write to an accepted standard could lead to drop-out, repetition and general demotivation. They note, however, that in rural Kenyan schools, using vernacular languages and terms to explain abstract concepts appeared to contribute towards literacy in the sense that children paid more attention to the topic, understood better what they read, and were therefore able to relate to it and better transform it to knowledge. Combining the use of the vernacular language as a means to induce understanding, with English, may have expanded the children's awareness of word meaning and language differences, helping to develop their English competency while also fostering understanding of the concepts being taught. Their research seemed to prove that the use of the occasional local term assisted the process of moving back and forth between locally relevant concrete examples and the abstract. Since most agricultural practices, processes and concepts do exist in vernacular languages, this means that they can be used effectively to explain natural phenomena, and thus enhance understanding. Also, where agriculture is used as a basic theme in an integrated curriculum, learning will not be confined only to everyday situations, but will facilitate the acquisition of a wide range of skills, eventually helping school leavers to achieve social mobility, should they desire it.
Husen and Keeves (1990) describe a programme initiated by OECD with participation from UNESCO for the redefinition of curricula in the areas of science, technology and mathematics education from kindergarten through to secondary school in its member states. A characteristic of this changing educational scene is the greater emphasis placed on science education at the primary school level. In some countries this is a new development, so there is scope for seeking innovative ways of devising suitable curricula. The Nuffield science projects in the United Kingdom have aimed to promote thinking by children through the integration of science topics. These developments were furthered as a result of the 1985 Bangalore Conference on "Science and Technology Education and Future Human Needs". The starting point for this conference was to identify issues that are essential for
development, including food and agriculture, and to examine how science teaching could be developed without maintaining the division between the "pure" sciences, physics, chemistry and biology. This resulted in the generation of ideas and new techniques for science teaching at all levels on the themes mentioned. A meeting was held subsequently in Zimbabwe in 1990, which involved African teachers and curriculum developers, generating African materials for African schools on socially relevant aspects of the science they teach.
The inclusion of science in the primary school curriculum can provide an extremely efficient vehicle for teaching the skills of communication and of numeracy and for doing so in a natural integrated manner. Most important, however, is the concept that science teaching should be child-centred. Husen and Keeves point out that the way in which children solve problems is essentially a scientific way of working. School experiences need, therefore, to build on what children do naturally. Scientific enquiry is valuable because it helps children learn about their surroundings in a way which is natural and acceptable to them, by practical exploration relying heavily on sensory experience. Involvement and discovery help the child to communicate. Activity-based curricula can allow children to gain concrete experience of the world (Haddad, 1986; Walberg, 1991; Ogunniyi, 1995).
Still, there is debate about how integrated science programmes should be developed. Gunstone (1985) comments that:
"Despite much work, there still remains a remarkable diversity of views as to what integrated science is, what programs might be integrated and how content should be selected for them".
Although these are real problems, agriculture can contribute to their solution by providing an excellent vehicle for the contextualisation of science in several ways. First, as we have seen, it can help children to overcome the problems associated with words, meanings and contexts derived from unfamiliar environments and cultures.
Secondly, agriculture provides many opportunities for problem-solving activities. As Husen and Keeves (1990) point out,
"Science could be characterised as concerned with understanding why...the enquiry approach of science is perfectly adapted to the psychological nature of pre-adolescents. It is in the nature of young children to be active and inquisitive"
Agriculture can provide practical activities which are grounded in scientific processes. This relationship places the emphasis on the processes of science rather than the content. Agriculture can also provide a means of allowing children to develop, carry out and evaluate their own research projects; as a result, the nature of scientific enquiry is experienced rather than "taught". This can enable children to compare, analyse the benefits and constraints and identify linkages between traditional farming methods and "modern" methods (Yakubu, 1994). George (1988) describes how school pupils in the Caribbean study "modern" technology in order to develop problem-solving skills and to become aware of the social implications of the introduction of modern technology in a developing country, whilst at the same time recognising and developing the capacity of indigenous technology. Valuable work has been carried out also on the in-service training of secondary school teachers in Swaziland to enable them to develop and produce contextualised science materials (Lubben et al, 1995). Through contextualised teaching and learning, children can develop their capacity for meta-cognition, and hence reflect critically on their own practices and experience; this may have a positive impact in the long run on agricultural innovation, production and rural development.
Just as development of science-related skills and literacy are important for children, so is mathematics. Yet it is probably the subject most frequently cited as being a barrier to advancement through the school system. Some governments actually make mathematics a non-compulsory subject area for promotion to secondary school or to further education. The result of this is that an individual can proceed through several levels of the education system without being numerate. University entrance criteria in many developing countries are based on the attainment of a qualification in mathematics, since this is the factor which lends itself most easily as a cut-off point in a list of potential candidates.
Balfanz (1988) considers how the mathematical knowledge children develop on their own, outside of formal school instruction, can be used to increase the distribution and level of mathematical knowledge attained by students. Clements and Jones (1981) described a case study from Papua New Guinea which detailed the learning processes of a child who came from a society which did not have names for numbers; still it was evident that there was mathematical knowledge in the society, but conceptually quite different to the standardised, western-oriented version. Damerow (1986) notes that social and cultural conditions are strong determinants of the acquisition of mathematical skills, as are the organisational structure of the school system and the nature of classroom practice and interaction.
In the primary school curriculum in the Indian State of Meghalaya (1990) it is noted that:
"The main objective of mathematics curriculum is to develop in the child the competencies which are relevant to real life situations that requires mathematical thinking, understanding of mathematical principles, knowledge and information about the social and economic application of mathematics. The mathematics curriculum at the primary stage should be related and relevant to the needs of a child as an individual and the society, hence huge stresses should laid more on the development of concept, skills and attitudes".
Agriculture can play a role in contextualising mathematics, just as it can for science, since it allows children to conceptualise mathematical principles as they relate to experiences with which they are familiar. Even if their vernacular language does not have terms for numbers, agricultural examples could be used to draw on the meanings which do exist in that culture, and bridge the gap between the two knowledge systems. Instead of creating despair over the abstractness of routine arithmetic calculations, the recognition that mathematics contains elements familiar to the lives of children outside school can help to reassure them, and hence build self-confidence and increase motivation. At the same time, it was observed earlier that agriculture integrated into the curriculum can help to improve literacy rates, and this in turn should have a positive impact on the level of numeracy in children.
Turner (1987) suggests that in order to achieve health for all, teachers must try to find ways to incorporate nutrition education more fully and effectively into the curriculum. She notes that successful teaching largely depends upon local initiatives and the level of co-operation between the school and teachers and the local community rather than implementing ideas produced by outside experts. It is unusual to find nutrition education as a separate subject in schools in any part of the world (Calloway et al, 1979), and it is accepted, usually, that it should be incorporated into other subject areas. At primary level, nutrition education very often forms part of thematic studies which include literature, mathematics, history and geography as well as science. Agriculture, food, nutrition and health are, by nature, very closely related, and it should be possible to define themes which integrate agriculture and nutrition into learning experiences in other aspects of the curriculum.
A survey by Turner and Ingle (1984) highlighted the variety and range of teaching approaches utilised in teaching nutrition in many countries, particularly in primary schools. Drama, poetry, music, art were included in the subject areas in which teaching about food and nutrition featured in addition to mathematics, geography, history, science and technology, physical education and home science (UNESCO, 1983). This approach was based on the use of the local environment as a basis for activities which encourages children to be curious about their surroundings, to observe, explain, experiment and communicate their ideas and findings (Baez, 1980).
Turner (1987) describes the ways in which many primary school topics related to nutrition are frequently incorporated within a scheme which forms a part of an integrated programme of work and which includes aspects of health education and agriculture. A study of staple food, for example rice, cassava, or bread could be based on a visit to a local farm, market or the school kitchen. Work in science and mathematics can be extended by germinating rice grains and measuring the growth of seedlings. Food can be integrated into studies of geography and religious ceremonies, in order to better understand social and economic factors. Children can then learn more about the complex interactions governing attitudes to food, and hence learn about agriculture at the same time. Activities related to school gardens or farms can also provide a rich source of low-cost, easily available classroom material.
Agriculture can be used as a means of preparing students to cope with sensitive biology-related social issues. The issue of birth rates and population control, for example, could be dealt with in an agricultural context by examining the impact of changes in the population rate on agricultural production systems; this combines social issues in relation to both agriculture and biology, hence facilitating a two-way flow of information and a build-up of knowledge of farming systems and biological principles within a social context.
Knamiller (1984) notes that environmental issues are equally amenable to this treatment, since children have a wealth of environmental knowledge on which to base learning. Issue-based studies may help to sensitise young people to local development problems, bringing about a positive impact in the community.
It may be possible to deal with gender issues in a similar way. Krugly-Smolska (1995) reports that it is important to begin the process of changing cultural stereotypes in children before they leave primary school. Since farming activities in many parts of the world are performed by women and girls, the relevance of the agricultural context may be even greater for girls than for boys, especially if they are active in the process of metaphor and analogy construction. This could lead to the development of greater self-confidence in girls, and hence greater motivation to remain at school, helping to redress the problem of higher drop-out rates for girls than for boys at primary school level.
Finally, Krogh (1990) points out that as children mature, it is possible to move from ego-centred social studies to a focus on the rest of the society. By integrating the theme of agriculture into the curriculum, a domain of personal experience for most children in rural schools becomes the basis for primary school learning; this may help children make the difficult transition from orientation towards the individual to an orientation towards society.
The argument presented in this section has demonstrated that learning in primary schools can be enhanced by contextualising the subject matter, by relating it to the environment and experiences of the learners. It has shown, too, that agriculture may be used as a nurturing vehicle which can support the development of learners whose needs are extremely diverse, and whose life experience has been enriched by agricultural practice. Contextualising learning can bring the learner into the heart of the learning process and help to strengthen the links between school, home and community, which in turn enhances the effectiveness of learning in primary schools. This relationship has reciprocal benefits.
The discussion so far has been theoretical, as its purpose has been to explain the meaning of contextualisation and the implications of its use. A research study was developed which set out to investigate whether the theory discussed above had a grounding in reality by posing a number of questions. Do teachers in rural primary schools contextualise learning in practice? Do they attempt to create an integrated learning system? What prerequisites are needed for contextualisation to take place? What factors constrain its application in the reality of the classroom situation? What are the roles and perceptions of teachers, parents, policy makers, and of course, the learners themselves? In order to make decisions about which countries would provide a source of information for the case studies regarding the practice of contextualisation, the literature was reviewed in an effort to gather information about existing practice. Section 6 presents a summary of these findings.
