Integrating Ubunifu, Informal Science, and Community Innovations in Science Classrooms in East Africa

Cult Stud of Sci Educ (2015) 10:865889
DOI 10.1007/s11422-014-9640-x
ORIGINAL PAPER
Integrating Ubunifu, informal science, and community

innovations in science classrooms in East Africa
Ladislaus M. Semali1 Adelina Hristova2 Sylvia A. Owiny2
Received: 26 May 2014 / Accepted: 18 September 2014 / Published online: 6 October 2015
Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015
Abstract This study examines the relationship between informal science and indigenous
innovations in local communities in which students matured. The discussion considers
methods for bridging the gap that exists between parents understanding of informal sci-
ence (Ubunifu) and what students learn in secondary schools in Kenya, Tanzania, and
Uganda. In an effort to reconcile the difference between students lived experiences and
Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) taught in classrooms, this
study presents an experiential iSPACES instructional model as an example of curriculum
integration in science classrooms. The culmination is presentation of lessons learned from
history, including Africas unique contributions to science, theory, and indigenous inno-
vations, in the hope that these lessons can spur the development of new instructional
practices, standards, curriculum materials, professional and community development, and
dialogue among nations.
Keywords Integration Indigenous innovations Informal science Ubunifu iSPACES
Lead editor: E. Afonso.
& Ladislaus M. Semali

lemunisemali@gmail.com; lms11@psu.edu
Adelina Hristova
agh13@psu.edu
Sylvia A. Owiny
san17@psu.edu
1
College of Education, Pennsylvania State University, 307 Keller Building, University Park,
PA 16802, USA
2
Adult Education/Comparative and International Education, College of Education, The
Pennsylvania State University, 409G Keller Building, University Park, PA 16802, USA
123
866 L. M. Semali et al.
Executive summary
Makala hii inajadili uhusiano kati ya sayansi endelevu isiyo rasmi na ubunifu wa jadi kama
unavyojulikana kati ya jamii za Afrika. Makala hii inalenga hasa mbinu wanazotumia
wazazi, na jamii kwa ujumla katika kubuni maarifa mapya ya kuboresha maisha yao
nyumbani na popote walipo. Watafiti wa makala hii walichunguza uhusiano kati ya mbinu
wanazotumia jamii katika maisha yao ya kila siku na maarifa ya sayansi wanayojifunza
watoto wao shuleni nchini Kenya, Tanzania, na Uganda.
Taarifa zimebainisha mada tofauti na mgongano uliopo kati ya maisha ya kila siku na
maarifa wanayopata wanafunzi kutoka mafunzo ya sayansi shuleni. Mgogano huo ni tatizo
kubwa maana wanafunzi wengi wanaogopa kuchukua masomo ya sayansi huku wakiwaza
kuwa sayansi ni ngumu; wakati wengi wao wanaweza tu kumudu mafunzo ya sayansi kwa
kukariri maarifa ya kitabuni bila kuyaweka maanani au kuyatumia katika maisha ya kila
siku kama wanavyofanya kwa maarifa mengine ya jadi yaliyo asili ya utamaduni wao.
Wataalamu wametambua kuwa mgongano huu ni sugu na tena wa muda mrefu. Hasa
umejitokeza kati ya itikadi za sayansi, teknolojia, uhandisi, na hisabati, na katika maadili
ya utamaduni wa jamii za Waafrika. Ili kupunguza makali ya mgongano huo mashuleni,
makala hii inaeleza mbinu mpya za kufundisha sayansi kiujumla kwa kushirikisha uta-
maduni wa jadi bila kubagua watu walio anzisha maarifa yake. Jaribio hili linaitwa
iSPACES. Mchakato wa iSPACES ni mfano bora wa kufundisha sayansi shule za
sekondari. Nia ni kushirikisha sayansi na maisha ya kila siku, kuhimiza vijana wajenge ari
ya ubunifu, na tabia ya uvumbuzi.
Pia, mafunzo ya iSPACES yanajaribu kuondoa mfarakano kati ya utamaduni wa jamii
na maarifa ya sayansi kutoka nchi za magharibi. Tena, jaribio hili linaondoa mgawanyiko
wa maarifa ya sayansi na historia ya ubunifu wa jamii za Waafrika, historia ambayo ni
sehemu kubwa ya maisha ya wanafunzi wanapokuwa nyumbani mbali na mazingira ya
shule. Swali la msingi ni hili: Ni vipi waalimu wa sayansi wanaweza kujenga uhusiano wa
kudumu utakaoondoa mgawanyiko kati ya itikadi za sayansi kutoka nchi za magharibi na
maadili ya jadi za jamii za Waafrika?
Lengo la makala hii ni kutathmini taarifa za wataalamu kuhusu mgawanyiko wa
sayansi, na pia kubainisha historia ya sayansi na mchango wa utamaduni wa watu wa bara
la Afrika. Waandishi wa makala hii wanatambua na wanasisitiza kuwa nadharia za sayansi
na ubunifu siyo ukiritimba wa kipekee wa Wazungu wa nchi za magharibi, bali pia ni
mchango wa watu popote pale walipo, wakiwa wanasukumwa na mazingira wanayoishi na
kutaka kutatua matatizo yanayowakabili. Maswali watakayouliza na mbinu watakazotumia
ni pamoja na uwezo wao wa kubuni, na pia ni sehemu ya sayansi ya jadi. Maelezo haya
pamoja na zoezi la iSPACES yana lengo muhimu la kuchangia mitaala ya sayansi shuleni,
kuimarisha maazimio ya ufundishaji bora, na uvumbuzi wa mifano mipya ya kufundisha
wanafunzi elimu ya sayansi katika karne hii ya 21. Pia juhudi hizi za kitaaluma na
endelevu, zinajenga na kuboresha mawasilino kati ya jamii na pia kati ya mataifa.
The impetus for integration of local knowledge (Emery 2000), Ubunifu and local history of
science in East African classrooms arises from a variety of research traditions and edu-
cational quarters (Mpofu, Otulaja and Mushayikwa, 2014). First, local knowledge draws
from indigenous discourses of knowledge and community development as a way of telling
the African narrative about knowledge, education and development in diverse African
cultural voices that represent history, people and cultural heritage (Odora-Hoppers 2002).
Second, Ubunifu is communitys informal science that is part of indigenous populations
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Integrating Ubunifu, informal science, and community innovations 867
ways of knowing, thinking and being, central to a constant renewal process of trial and
error engendered from creativity and intuition to solve problems (Nakata 2002). Together,
Ubunifu, informal science, and community innovations form indigenous epistemology, a
worldview or simply a repertoire of the African cultural heritage that identifies the
African people (Odora-Hoppers 2002, p. 2).
The general assumption and motive for integration of African cultural heritage in sci-
ence classrooms is partly grounded in the argument that non-western students exposure to
western school science creates conflict between subject knowledge gained versus real-life
experiences, and often prompts a cognitive dissonance (Le Grange 2007). Failure to
resolve this dissonance effectively in a systematic and pedagogical manner is likely to
contribute to negative school experiences for African students. This situation may ulti-
mately lead to academic failure, drop-out from school or likely engender students bearing
long-term disinterest in formal science education (Semali and Mehta 2012).
Equally, the trend to exclude students prior knowledge from the classroom could inad-
vertently encourage them to adopt a senseless, rote learning strategy because the school
knowledge learned through memorization does not connect to cultural environments and
family settings where students lived and matured. Besides, indigenous students may suffer
because the knowledges and (often the languages) they bring from home are not being
discussed or valued in the science classroom. For example, the concept of irrigation learned at
school is not the adopted method in the home environment, a significant discrepancy con-
sidering close to 80 % of East Africans practice some form of agriculture. Such disconnect or
knowledge gap affects native peoples abilities to connect and think critically and practically,
eventually leading to incapacity to apply formal learning to real-life situations.
The paper is based on findings from a 20082011 examination of barriers to the reform
movement of science education in East Africa: Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, which used
data from interviews, classroom observations, document analysis, and a survey question-
naire. The study was prompted by a wave of reports indicating massive failures and
students weak performance in STEM subjects (physics, chemistry, biology and mathe-
matics) in National Form Four Examinations (Owuor 2007; UNCST 2008). For example,
in Tanzania, examination results for 2012 showed massive failures among the candidates in
which more than a half, 204,093 out of 397,136 candidates who sat for the exams, posted
Division Zero (Tanzania Daily News 2013). The massive failures were attributed to lack of
teaching staff coupled with shortage of teaching and learning materials in most schools.
To examine these reports and the discrepancies between home and school, this dis-
cussion seeks to discover the link between students experiences in indigenous commu-
nities, garnered from real-life experiences, localized knowledge, and their disposition
toward western science education taught in science classrooms. Also, as discussed else-
where, these considerations include ways to restructure existing secondary school science
curriculum and rethink methodologies for teaching physics, chemistry and biology to
overcome students conflicts between their everyday world and the world of academic
science (Semali 2013, pp. 3246). Even though iSPACES offers unique pedagogical
strategies and shows promise for curriculum reform, it was often disrupted by in-service
teachers not attending regularly workshops and professional development summer insti-
tutes. The proposed experimental iSPACES pedagogical strategy offers a framework to
introduce reforms in the teaching of science. The justification for iSPACES was in
response to some concerns raised by critics that teaching science is difficult for practical
reasons and therefore the basis for precluding wider acceptance, and ultimately excluding
women, minority children and students from indigenous communities and remote areas.
(For detailed discussion, see Semali and Methta 2012, pp. 225239). These reasons have
123
motivated us to examine the foundations of Ubunifu and seek out nontraditional methods to
integrate iSPACES pedagogical strategies across STEM subjects instead of teaching it as
a separate subject in an already overcrowded curriculum.
Furthermore, to address these complex issues requires examination of the relationship
between informal science and community innovations in East Africa. Observably, gener-
ally, parents, educators, and stakeholders expect students who study western science to do
well at school and acquire a well-paying job which is innovative to create solutions that
solve everyday problems (Semali and Mehta 2012). However, this expectation is not
common among many parents because indigenous innovations are not valued in East
Africa since almost all basic technologies, like farm implements are imported.
The inconsistency between community innovations and academic subjects in East
Africa is abysmal and complex, particularly because there is no serious attempt among
educators or scholars to resolve the apparent disconnect that indigenous children experi-
ence in science classrooms. Indigenous knowledge concepts and African epistemologies
are given little attention in locally produced textbooks (Semali and Mehta 2012). The
concept of innovation, for example, which is hardly discussed in school science texts,
involves a curiosity of creating something new or applying conventional things to new uses
and adding value through the process (Dave and Guthrie 2004). This process manifests
itself in myriad forms in developing communities, not exclusive to western science situ-
ations. Markedly, the term Western is used in this essay to identify the hegemonic
European knowledge production which originated in sixteenth century Europe and gen-
erated a specific kind of knowledge most typically expressed in so-called modern sci-
ence with its universalist pretentions (Breidlid 2013).
Therefore, the issues which concern scientists of a particular culture, the choice of
questions, the framing of the questions and the methods of thought arise from particular
preoccupations of people and the way they understand the universe, including ways of
learning and attaching meaning to learning systems and aspects of political, economic and
technological management (Ezeabasili 1977). Consequently, the quest becomes what
teachers, parents, and other stakeholders can do to assist schools promotion of integrated,
formalized western science education that allows consideration and application of the
values and practical knowledge learned through students cultural heritage, environments
and family settings.
The current discussion includes perspectives and approaches supported by a significant
amount of academic literature from sociology (Wang and Schmidt 2001) and medical
anthropology (Good, Fischer, Willen and DelVecchio-Good 2010). In addition, Indigenous
scholars once asked: can we separate the informal from the formal, and is the nexus of the
two a productive place from which to explore, teach, and pursue science in Indigenous
communities? (McKinley, Brayboy and Castngno 2008, p. 732). This article begins to
address these questions. For clarity, a review of accepted definitions of informal science
(Ubunifu) and an examination of the status of community innovations in Kenya, Tanzania,
and Uganda are appropriate. A synthesis of these definitions expands the conception of
science literacy as a life-long participation in science, which supports the notion that
science meets individuals, the public, and communitys needs. This expanded conception
of informal science broadens science literacy to recognize science as both intrinsic and
extrinsic, and a life-long process, and consequently expands schools instruction of science
to ongoing participation in science-related activities in society by citizens of all ages in
diverse environments. The definition also expands science literacy to bridge a perceived
difference between formal and informal science education.
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The second consideration is presentation of the proposed experimental iSPACES instruc-

tional model as an example of curriculum integration that draws from systems-thinking
approach and a holistic framework to science education. The discussion concludes with lessons
learned from history, theory, and indigenous innovations and encourages application of these
lessons to development of new standards, curriculum materials, instructional practices, pro-
fessional and community development, and dialogue among nations.
Synthesis of definitions
Ogawa proposed that every culture has its own science and refers to the science in a given
culture as its indigenous science (1995, p. 585). Expanding on earlier debates on this
view, Ezeabasili (1977) explained:
Every culture has its own science which is a part of its total symbolic expression and
so is inseparable from its architecture, art, sculpture, and even religion The
questions which concern scientists of a particular culture, the choice of them, the
framing of the questions and the methods of thought are determined by the particular
preoccupation of the people and the way in which the universe presents itself to their
understanding Western and African science have demonstrated their validity
through their utility in various situations. (p. 78)
The two world situations Ezeabasili offeredwestern and Africanillustrate two distinct
epistemologies and cultural environments. In East Africa, these two cultural environments
represent a contrast between school and home, where the processes of most learning for
students take place.
The first represents formal learning governed by the curricula and academic knowledge
of western science, summarized in the ontological assumption of scientific methodology.
Philosophers consider scientific methodology to be an empirical and rational way of
acquiring knowledge, and one that propagates the concept that presents a split between
man and nature and upholds the view that nature requires conquering (Clark 1997). Based
on the works of Newton, Descates, Bacon, and Darwin, a long history emerges that defines
the modern worldview of the universe and mans place in it, namely, that the universe
was an impersonal phenomenon, governed by regular natural laws, and understandable in
exclusively physical and mathematical terms (Clark 1997, p. 8).
The second encompasses informal learning that represents the variety of knowledge
taking place in the African home but also more broadly in the communitylargely in out-
of-school environments where students confront, daily, lived realities. This informal
learning includes the traditional cultural knowledge transferred between generations
through a variety of ways and at different times, including rituals, customs, historical
legends and stories that represent the stages of development of the African child. Figure 1
represents the socio-cultural contexts of learning which includes knowledge that develops
directly from specific social and cultural events. These contrasted ontological assumptions
tend to influence out-of-school concepts of technology and physical phenomenas
importance for determining formal learning processes in African schools, whether or not
acknowledged (Shumba 1994).
Decades of research do not seem to resolve debates of these ontological positions. In
The Future of the Body, Michael Murphy (1992) focused on studying oral and written
histories of many cultures, seeking evidence of extraordinary physical, mental, and spir-
itual capacities in areas such as metanormal perception, cognitions movement, vitality
123
Fig. 1 Cultural assumptions and influences: explaining why certain things work the way they do
and spiritual development. Recognizing the necessity to reject scientific, religious, and
other prejudices against certain time-tested data from (non-conventional) traditions,
Murphy explored such unorthodox sources as contemplative traditions, anthropological
studies of shamanism, and psychical research. Murphy also explored the extensive liter-
ature that emerged from the physical, biological, and human sciences, and even new fields
such as psychoneuroimmunology.
Other scholars, Judith Zorfass and Jennifer Dorsen (2011) expanded demonstration of
practical uses of indigenous science when they experimented with informal science edu-
cation programs in which small teams of adolescents met at community technology centers
to investigate science phenomena through I-Searches. For Zorfass and Dorsen, I-Searches
provided ample opportunity to teams of students to develop a plan for gathering infor-
mation by reading, watching, asking experts, and activities, such as experiments or field
trips to explore different areas of science.
While the foundations of these epistemological, ontological, and axiological assump-
tions are the histories of many cultures, though bitterly contested, some scholars claimed
knowledge exists in plural forms (Mpofu, Otulaja and Mushayikwa 2014) and the multi-
site explorations form a kind of multicultural science (Atwater and Riley 1993). Indige-
nous science quests (Aikenhead and Ogawa 2007) represent important venues for academic
study because they can function as pedagogical stepping-stonesespecially for multi-
cultural or indigenous students of science (Stanley and Brickhouse 2001). Other western
educated science educators, who champion western sciences as the last and greatest of the
sciences, tend to dismiss multicultural science as a fad, heretical (Gross and Levitt 1994);
or of no apparent value.
Documentation of projects of informal interactions between adolescents and adult
community members (e.g. I-Searches referenced previously) illustrate the inter-genera-
tional transfer of informal science. Many examples of informal knowledge are resident in
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local communities throughout East Africa. For example, in biology elders impart skills for
slaughtering an animal for the village feast; in political science, one observes the art of
settling disputes; in chemistry, illustrations show extraction of organic compounds from
medicinal plants or mixing natural products including fruits, honey, and barks of certain
trees to brew alcohol or other useful concoctions; and in physics, mitigation teaches
accommodation of weather-related incidents or disasters, and so on. For many years,
disputes argue these accounts are not authentic science and therefore compete with uni-
versality of standard scientific methodology that uses western concepts, formulas and
foreign languages. In fact, the traditional wisdom component of recently adopted tradi-
tional ecological knowledge (TEK) is particularly rich in time-tested approaches that foster
sustainability and environmental integrity, yet is ignored or not valued at all.
To summarize this section, the consideration is alternative ways of defining science,
including its critical importance for western science educators in East Africa because the
definition of western science is de facto gatekeeping for determining what can be
included in a schools science curriculum and what cannot (Snively and Corsiglia 2001).
Scholars of indigenous science concur with this argument: When the definition of Western
Modern Science (WMS) is universal, it displaces pragmatic local indigenous knowledge
that does not conform to formalized aspects of the standard account (Aikenhead and
Ogawa 2007). Perhaps, these challenges show that the universalist gatekeeper is
increasingly problematic and even counter-productive (Jegede 1997).
Next, we turn to innovation. This analysis proposes the term, innovation to include,
broadly, a heuristic device to link activities in science laboratories and those in indigenous
peoples environments. Notably, the Swahili term Ubunifu does not quite translate accu-
rately to the English equivalent, innovation. Etymologically, however, the English term
innovation derives from the Latin word innovatus, based on the verb-form innovare,
meaning to renew or change. The obvious assumption is that Ubunifu suggests something
new, a creation, a product of imagination, a constant renewal process of trial and error
engendered from creativity and intuition. The term encompasses the notion of augmenting
or changing things, or the action of improving a given situation or product. As summarized
by one Tanzanian farmer, Ubunifu becomes more than simply conceiving new ideasone
has to actually produce and or create something. He said: Ubunifu ni matokeo, ni matunda
ya kuzalisha upya. (which translates to innovation is only a consequence; it is the
brainchild or fruits that emerge from creating something new).
This discussion distinguishes innovation from invention. Innovation refers to the use
of a new idea or method; whereas, invention refers more directly to the creation of the idea
or method itself. Consequently, Ubunifu provides the extension of prior knowledge of
using informal science and experience from producing indigenous innovations to improve
well-being. In essence, the term Ubunifu refers to creativity, discovery, and innovative
ways of addressing local needs and solving problems by designing or improvising work-
able solutions, using local resources. As a result of years of devaluation and neglect, for
example, harnessing informal science or indigenous innovations have not constructed a
bridge between home science and school science nor reconciled schools scientific
frameworks for environmental conservation and natural disaster management.
Indigenous communities innovations have always been components of African soci-
etys repertoire of solutions for addressing basic problems. Martin Nakata (2002) estimated
that approximately 80 % of the worlds population relies on indigenous knowledge for
either medicine or food. For example, among the Ojibwe of Minnesota, innovations,
consisting of food or nurturing a sustainable environment (e.g. manoomin/wild rice;
products, skills and solutions) are most apparent in farming, traditional healing,
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manufacturing domestic equipment, and so on, all of which were and are environmentally
friendly (Sopazi and Andrew 2005).
The possibilities for research in African science in East Africa are almost endless when
considering the diversity of cultures, histories, technologies, and animal and plant species,
which seem unmatched anywhere. However, science classrooms hardly discuss most of
this potential and wealth of heritage knowledge. Wed Davis (2009) recounted that the
indigenous practices of traditional healers, farmers or shamans, who have existed for
millennia, are not failed attempts at modernity (p. 7). Rather, they represent funds of
knowledge of their world and the present one. With this view, Davis agreed with the
current proposition that Ubunifu is a concept with a history stretching through millennia.
This recognition is important as part of the heritage and wisdom of indigenous peoples. In
fact, for millennia, farmers and their children exchanged ideas, technologies, seeds, and
numerous innovations (Rai and Shrestha 2006). In short, indigenous communities inno-
vations are components of unacknowledged discovery found in many African societies, but
not necessarily, as this discussion will assert, an exclusive domain of the formal western
scientific tradition.
The supposition guiding this inquiry into community innovations suggests that if
Africans can absorb technological concepts without mental conflicts, then designing
methods, means, or courses that assist students absorbing scientific interests, attitudes,
thoughts and habits without destroying their identities, cultures, or abilities to innovate are
not impossible. Perhaps, this supposition suggests a situation akin to the Japanese
accommodating Shinto philosophies that coexist with their innovation of electronic tech-
nologies. Besides, the current study has merit in the era of rapid global economic
expansion and the era of growing awareness among science educators of the urgent need to
relate science more closely to the learners societal or cultural environments, thereby
minimizing the conflicts that might arise from local views of the world and that of science
taught in schools (Ogunniyi 1988). Given that innovation is a major driving force in
economic growth and social development, the issue becomes finding methods for teachers
to encourage integration of practical innovative skills and habits in science classrooms
(Hodson 1993). Instilling the can do attitude in youngsters studying STEM subjects is the
core concern.
Indigenous knowledge and informal science debates
Exploring the history of science education in East Africa, Olugbemiro Jegede (1994,
1997), raised three questions which are important for understanding Ubunifu. He posited:
(1) Can scientific literature be accurately discerned and represented?
(2) Is it realistic to expect that all aspects of what characterize the practice of science
can, and should, be taught to society? Can everyone become little scientists
everywhere?
(3) Should we be talking about teaching society those aspects of the scientific culture
which are most likely to promote scientific and technological literacy? (1997, p. 4)
These questions raise issues of authentic science, and especially, with particular signifi-
cance to non-western cultures in Africa. However, the epicenter of the debates is the claim
establishing superiority for western science and modes of thought over non-western ones.
This section introduces the debates surrounding the history of science education in East
Africa. Teacher education colleges in Africa, for unknown reason, rarely discuss this topic.
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The section reviews the advent of western science in Africa, the current state of school
science, and the possibilities for, and implications of, harnessing traditional African
thought systems and western science to advance multicultural science, Ubunifu, and dis-
covery to develop a scientific culture for Africa in the twenty first century.
Emerging debates regarding the value of Ubunifu in the African environment challenge
the assumption that the scientific worldview reflects modernism. This assumption implies
that a society undergoing transformation from an agrarian to a technological economy is
modernizing. However, scholars refuted these linear notions of development as utterly
misplaced because they rely in part on the Levy-Bruhl (1965) theories of primitive Afri-
cans as relying on religion, and magic. (See a detailed discussion of these arguments in
Shumba 1994). Cobern (1994) suggests that this view is based on a culture deficit theory
where traditional cultures are not only seen as different but are tacitly assumed to be less
rational than modern western culture.
Perhaps the controversies explain students lack of exposure to the history of science in
Africa. Presumably, such a history is non-existent since African culture lacks technical
advances, but the reality is quite to the contrary. No scientific basis is apparent for
regarding non-western thought as scientific, antiscientific or any less superior (Marinez and
Ortiz de Montellano 1983).
In the past decades, scholars documented the history of indigenous people in developing
communities and showed that local communities often utilize their characteristically
individual knowledge to address local challenges and develop new ways of doing things.
However, in the aftermath of colonialism, the lingering vestiges of neo-colonialism (Ryan
2008) seem to have negatively transformed some of the colonized nations to the extent that
they lost the vitality of their agricultural and other survival systems (Brokensha, Warren,
and Werner 1980). These studies showed that prior to colonization many indigenous
communities sustained themselves better when they utilized locally developed knowledge
about seeds, medicine, food preservation, and technology (Katz 2004), than after political
independence in the post-colonial era (Semali and Kincheloe 1999). Furthermore, the
poverty of Africa reflects the scar of slavery, colonialism, neo-colonialism, and economic
and cultural imperialism (Jegede 1997).
Arguably, Ubunifu predominates out-of-school environments and it pervades local/
indigenous knowledge. As defined earlier, indigenous knowledge is a broad concept that
encompasses all forms of knowledgetechnologies, know-how, wisdom, skills, practices
and beliefsthat enable a community to achieve stable livelihoods in a given environment
(Semali 1999). In short, it is a response to the way people live in a given socio-cultural
context over a period of time. Through the socio-cultural experience, people construct the
way they explain, control and manage their lives and relate to their attendant social and
physical environments. Dvora Yanow (2003) defined indigenous/local knowledge as: the
very mundane, but still expert, understanding of and practical reasoning about local con-
ditions derived from lived experience (p. 236). Yanows definition is useful for
approaching Ubunifu: First, scholars conceptualized local knowledges literacy as
emerging from indigenous knowledge, being cumulative, but confined to a specific overall
paradigm (Kuhn 1970) because prior knowledge shapes the problems addressed, the
instrumentation used, and the solutions for particular categories of phenomena (Dosi, and
Grazzi 2006).
Second, a puzzling realization is that for millennia traditional societies have used a
variety of tools, remedies and technologies but these communities innovations hardly ever
achieve sufficient scale (locally) to meet market needs or authentication and refinement
through introduction to science classrooms. For instance, indigenous communities in
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Africa use charcoal as a source of fuel to prepare food but few African schools studied
these methods to improve efficiency or to reduce environmental impact. In 1988, the World
Bank sponsored a pilot project, the Renewable Energy Development Project Unit
(REDPU), to design, develop and disseminate an improved charcoal stove (Murusuri
1998), Jiko Bora (translated as improved stove). Unfortunately, thus far, few local
entrepreneurs adopted this concept or scaled it to improve efficiency or wider
marketability.
The reason for such a common sense projects lack of attention among common folk is
inexplicable. In contrast, the iron furnaces in the US in the seventeenth and eighteenth
century smelted iron ore by using trees as the source for charcoal. Coke, used in the
nineteenth century for steel production was a processed coal intended to increase tem-
perature. It replaced charcoal. Such scaling up is non-existent in the local experiments such
as Jiko Bora. Some skeptics however, do not dismiss this omission lightly, they argued that
the World Banks project failed to incorporate the traditional, social, ecological local
understanding (Nakata 2002) or link the idea of Jiko Bora (Murusuri 1998) with contex-
tual/cultural understandings related to food preparation habits and fuel sources of the
region (Barnes, Openshaw, Smith and van der Plas 1993). But more importantly, perhaps
the disconnect that exists between home and school and neglecting to introduce concepts of
Ubunifu in schools curricula might explain the failure of adoption of the World Bank-
funded Jiko Bora project by common folk who constantly search for efficient ways to
accomplish tasks.
Third, a generally accepted notion is that in the global economy, innovation leads to the
much needed change and improvements at all levels of business and economics. However,
both advantages and deficits exist. Consequently, even in traditional societies, innovation
tends to change existing perceptions, rules, structures, norms, and taken-for-granted
thinking to create a novel transformation in the way people do simple thingslike the Jiko
Borafor cooking food more efficiently. Communities, particularly those in natural dis-
aster-prone areas, for example, have for generations engendered a vast body of indigenous
innovations for preventing and mitigating disasters: early warning systems, preparedness
and responses, and post-disaster recovery (UNEP 2008). However, only limited informa-
tion explains the reasons and methods indigenous innovation occurs (Szmytkowski 2005)
and the lack of migration to science classrooms for questioning, verification, and scaling.
Since limited knowledge, lack of attention to cultural knowledge, and lack of effort to
integrate science education in everyday lives, students seem to experience significant
negative consequences. Ramamoorthy Visvanathan (2005) identified a number of disasters
resulting from scientifically driven development in India that failed to recognize cultural
knowledge and to account for local understanding.
Indigenous knowledge and Africas unique contributions to science
Some scholars contend that Africa has made unique contributions over the years to the
collective pool of knowledge (Ogunniyi 1988). In fact, some scholars conceded that
without the diverse contributions of Africans: Egyptians, Nubians and other indigenous
peoples of the Middle East (e.g. Phoenicians), North America (e.g. Native Indians and
Alaskans) and South America (e.g. Mayans and the Incas) and the Chinese, who collec-
tively contributed mathematical thinking; the mechanical clock, inoculation techniques,
and navigational instruments, and the advances of modern navigation, astronomy, and so
123
on, would not have occurred. Equally, the Mayan and Inca civilizations, the Greeks, have
played a significant historical role for numerous technologies, mathematics, geometric
formulae, language, and architecture. Together, scholars argued that local conditions as
well as particular preoccupations of the people and the way the universe presents itself to
them prompted such creativity, discoveries and innovations, which allowed western sci-
ence to develop to its current sophistication.
Gloria Snively and John Corsiglia (2001) strongly supported integration of teaching
aspects of multicultural science with pedagogy in science classrooms. They argued the
view that western modern science is just one of many sciences worthy of addressing in the
science classroom. The predominance of Western/European perspective in African science
curricula could account for the gap between students lived experiences and STEM science
subjects or the subsequent discrediting of informal science. When discussing informal
science in the African context, the focus on African science, is omitted from schools
curricula. As will be shown later in Table 2, many practices of indigenous science in the
East African region exist as the examples illustrate. African science was defined by Sam
Bajah (1980, p. 6) as a systematic, complex and exclusive traditional process (observed in
many African cultures). Generally, African science represents Africans attempting to
describe, understand, predict and control nature. Ezeabasili (1977) emphasized that African
science does not refer to things that could be discovered by common sense but instead
focuses on an African account of nature and how it works.
Ubunifu in community innovations
This study examines the relationship between Ubunifu, informal science, community
innovations, and western science classrooms in East Africa. Ubunifu is the outgrowth of
community-based innovations in emerging economies with origins in informal science of
local environments and prior cultural knowledge within indigenous communities. Inher-
ently, informal science, sometimes referred to as Indigenous ways of living in nature
(Aikenhead and Ogawa 2007, pp. 555556), is everyday science used by common folk in
out-of-school contexts to solve common problems. At the core of the controversies
between informal science or indigenous science and western science is the role community
innovations play in the promotion of the wellbeing of its members.
Innovation has a historical reputation of being a major driving force in economic growth
and social development. In any society, innovation benefits those who continually apply new
ways from imagination and creativity to enhance individual comfort, convenience, and
efficiency in everyday life. According to Robert Solow (2005), technological progress and
innovation in modern times form the driving force of economic growth and the apparatus
that emerging economies seek to develop in science classrooms. This view, confirmed by
Nakata (2002), suggests that local challenges and opportunities are as varied as the individual
communities themselves and provide great opportunities to stimulate economic growth by
capitalizing on the local knowledge and resources residing in communities.
The governments of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda recognize these imperatives. Recent
reports in the national press regarding poor performance in math and science in national
examinations demonstrates the frustration parents, teachers, and policymakers experience.
(See Table 1).
The statistics in Table 1 clearly indicate educators concerns for the methodologies for
teaching western science in schools and the weak performances of students in Kenya,
123
Table 1 Recent secondary school science performance in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda
Subjects Kenya (% mean score Tanzania Uganda
total 2006)c (% failures 2004)a (% failures 2008)d
Physics 40.31 45 58.1b

f
Chemistry 24.91 35 66.8
Biology 27.44 43 37.6
Mathematics 19.01 70 52.5 (2000)e
Sources: a School Inspection Programme for Secondary Schools in Tanzania. http://www.performanceaudit.

afrosai-e.org.za/reports/school-inspection-programme-secondary-schools-tanzania
b
Secondary School Science Remedial Programme proposals to facilitators doc. http://www.docstoc.com/
docs/101943339
c
Mainstreaming Gender in science and Technology Policies and Programmes in Kenya: A report of
National Council for Science and Technology in Collaboration with UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science
and Technology in Africa. UNESCO-NCST, 2010. Nairobi, Kenya: Directorate of Quality Assurance
Scheme (QUAS), Ministry of Education
d
Uganda post-primary Education Sector Report. Africa Region Human Development. Working Paper
Series/Xiaoyen Liang
e
The achievement of senior II students in Uganda in English language, mathematics and biology. Summary
of 2010 NAPE report
f
Reversing the Failure Rate Trends in Science and Mathematics for Tanzanian Schools. http://www.wavuti.
com/4/post/2010/08/reversing-the-failure-rates-trend-in-science-and-mathematics-for-tanzanian-schools.
html#ixzz1uxzh2Bdh
Tanzania, and Uganda. Furthermore, policies such as Ugandas Ministry of Education and
Sports recent resolution to equip teachers colleges with laboratories and equipment clearly
indicates a desire to improve training of science teachers and recognition of its impact on
the development of science and technology (Owuor 2007). The Uganda National Council
for Science and Technology (UNCST) acknowledged gaps in science and technology
education at all levels of Ugandas educational system (UNCST 2008). Problems range
from inappropriate curricula, the unavailability of qualified science teachers, and inade-
quacy of infrastructure, poorly equipped classrooms, lack of laboratory facilities, textbooks
and other instructional materials; and ultimately students attitudes toward western science.
At the community level, Ubunifu becomes a metaphor for the convergence of knowl-
edge-types allowing for possibilities for new solutions, new approaches, or discovery of
new ideas. Mary Crossan, Henry Lane and Roderick White (1999) arguing that some
people naturally exercise entrepreneurial intuitionthe ability to imagine novel connec-
tions, discern possibilities, and perceive new/emergent relationshipssuggested that
individuals abilities are a key factor of innovation. In essence these scholars referenced
the unique situation of the convergence of knowledge-types within which intuition, cre-
ativity and comparison are possible.
Whereas the public image of western science education in East Africa may be one of
simply learning facts and formulas by rote, science education generally concentrates on the
teaching of science and innovative concepts and addressing misconceptions that learners
may harbor regarding science concepts or any other content. However, misconceptions
tend to have deep roots. For example, women and minority children from poor and
indigenous communities or ethnic backgrounds, have often been discouraged or excluded
from western science education, and are perceived to represent a population segment
deemed lacking interest or intelligence to cope with STEM school subjects (Semali and
Mehta 2012). Rationalizing such bias is troublesome.
123
Fig. 2 Koroboikerosine lamp
In fact, in many parts of Africa, for example, indigenous youths know a great deal about
their environments, local resources, and application of local solutions to local problems,
belies the ingrained prejudice. These youths may sometimes use crude materials like
twisted wires or metal to create an oil lamp called Koroboi, found in most rural households
(see Fig. 2). The Koroboi technology consisting of inserting a wick in an oil-filled con-
tainer has been common in Africa for hundreds of years. This same technology, used today
in a variety of ways, includes the same technology as Air Wick air freshener, distributed
in the United States by Reckitt Benckisser Parsippany. Sometimes African youth use
portions of old car tires or scrap metal to create a variety of household items for everyday
use, like the marimba (a musical instrument), (Fig. 3) or shoes (Fig. 4), or irrigation,
harvesting crops, repairing leaking pipes, and the like. Such creation is Ubunifu.
Notably however, the current concern is not about efficiency of crude technologies, but
rather and more importantly, the nurturing of possibilities for innovation, curiosity, cre-
ativity, processes for discovery, imagination, and quests for improvement.
Integrating Ubunifu in STEM subjects
The pedagogy of integration is neither new nor unique in school classrooms (Beane
1997). Integrating skills and subject matter or content is the mantra of the essentials of
education advocated and supported by philosophers of educational reform like John
Dewey, Paulo Freire, Miles Horton, and Julius Nyerere. These educators emphasized that
students of any age, including adult learners acquire knowledge through observing, lis-
tening, reading, talking, and writing about science, mathematics, history, the social sci-
ences, and other aspects of intellectual, social, and cultural heritage.
Some indigenous scholars advocate for the synergistic approach to the integration of
indigenous knowledge and Western science at classroom level. Ray Barnhart and
Angayuqaq Oscar Kawagley (2005) refer to this approach as synthesizing these two
knowledge forms into one comprehensive and holistic system. Edward Shizha (2006)
describes this approach as knowledge hybridization. Vongai Mpofu, Femi Otulaja and
Emmanuel Mushayikwa (2014) suggest a convergent approach that is grounded in the third
space theory advanced by Homi Bhabha (1994) which acknowledges both the first space
(home culture) and second space (classroom science) to form an intersection called the
third space (synthesized science).
In sum, these theories support the belief that ignoring the conception of third space
and insisting on the separation of school from the real world seems to increase when life
123
Fig. 3 Marimba: using

twisted metal to create musical
instrument
Fig. 4 Example of Katambuga

shoes made from car tires in
Tanzania
experiences, prior knowledge, cultural knowledge, intuition, and organizational frames of

meaning remain marginalized or extracurricular, underpins the rationale for supporting
integrated curricula. In general, content integration deals with the extent to which teachers
123
use examples, data, and information from a variety of cultures and groups to illustrate key
concepts, principles, generalizations, and theories in their academic subjects or disciplines.
Conversely, the proposal to integrate Ubunifu in STEM science is new to many edu-
cators trained in African teachers colleges. While some educators and education reformers
enthusiastically embrace the potential pedagogical gains from curriculum integration,
students in many African schools have not developed the mental habits necessary for
academic inquiry appropriate for genuine integration. These habits include ability to
imagine and value different perspectives, and then to strengthen, refine, enlarge, authen-
ticate or reshape ideas in light of those other perspectives (Beane 1997). In addition, mental
habits include openness to view ideas combined with a skepticism that demands testing
those ideas against previous experience, reading, myth, superstition or belief.
Teaching curriculum integration includes a desire to perceive things holistically and to
incorporate specific knowledge into larger frameworks. In more traditional terms, these
intellectual habits represent the ability to synthesize, analyze, evaluate, and argueto
engage ideas actively and to communicate them. (For a detailed discussion of the rationale
for curriculum integration, see Ladislaus Semali 2000, pp. 2932).
It is important to understand that curriculum integration is an idea that has a strong
historical background. Advocates of an integrated curriculum believe that students learn
best when encountering ideas that are connected to one another. In fact, disciplines were
created in an attempt to organize the world around people and thus, the disciplines of
knowledge are not the enemy, but a useful and necessary ally (Beane 1995, p. 616). But
sometimes this creation was motivated by political means. Consequently, supporters of
integrated curriculum have noticed similar agendas in schools and hence placed greater
emphasis on the fact that student experience is essential for meaningful learning to occur.
Thus, integrated curriculum seems to be the best vehicle for empowering students, parents,
and teachers (Vars 1991). Yet, many schools are structured in such a way that students
move from one subject area to the next, information is disconnected and the ability to make
material relevant to the lives of students is lost.
On the other hand, critics of integrated curriculum have formulated several arguments
against the idea. First, it is sometimes appropriate for information to be taught within the
content area rather than interdisciplinary. Some concepts run the risk of becoming con-
fused when connected to unrelated subject matter. Secondly, most teachers have always
been a part of a somewhat modernist (traditional or single subject specialization) method of
teaching. Therefore, implementing integrated curriculum becomes increasingly more dif-
ficult. Third, critics claim that many teachers may lack knowledge and skills of the various
disciplines. Finally, a key criticism of integrated curriculum is assessment. Schools con-
tinue to struggle with effective methods to assess students achievement in regard to higher
level thinking and deeper understanding. In order for integrated curriculum to replace
traditional teaching styles, the entire structure of the school needs to change to incorporate
block scheduling and team-teachinga change that many modernist teachers are not
willing to accept.
Despite these criticisms, our rationale for advocating curriculum integration of Ubunifu
in STEM subjects was to facilitate the inclusion of systems approach to teaching science
and to model ways of incorporating indigenous scienceways of knowing, thinking, and
doing across the science curriculum in East Africa. This method was introduced through
iSPACES in response to the need of valuing multicultural science and therefore the basis
of advancing wider acceptance in East African secondary schools. Advocates of multi-
cultural science were referenced previously in this article (e.g. Aikenhead & Ogawa 2007;
Barnhardt & Kawagley 2005; Ezeabasili 1977; Harman 1988; Owuor 2007) as they have
123
inspired us to examine the foundations of Ubunifu and seek out non-traditional methods to
integrate iSPACES in STEM subjects instead of pursuing other discipline-focused
approaches. The reality is that the local environment and cultural heritage will continue to
be instrumental in making cultural symbols and symbolic expressions that promote the
lifelong learning of science in Africa.
When encouraging teachers to reflect on Ubunifu as cultural heritage knowledge and to
engage the integration process, the effort entails enacting a process of curriculum inquiry.
This process seeks to employ analytic habits of thinking, reading, speaking, and discussing
about STEM science as lifelong participation in human science. The analysis goes beneath
surface impressions, traditional myths, mere opinions, and therefore aims to refine or
reshape existing social meanings (worldviews) and to confront ones own social context
(Semali 2000, p. 31). As defined by Willis W. Harman (2011), context here means
meaning connection. Therefore, integrating Ubunifu in STEM subjects is to create
contexts of meaning, that recognize the symbolic expressions of cultural contexts to daily
life, encompassing a complex network of social, economic, political, and ecological
influences, and relationships. These relationships enable identifying the meaning of
experiences, history, and cultural heritage.
Therefore, curriculum inquiry represents a learning process because the discussion is
not a single issue, a factoid or mathematical formulas to be memorized. Equally, the
process of curriculum inquiry is not limited to the home or the school spheres. It is on-
going, and the home and school are the laboratories for the experimenting throughout the
inquiry process. Ubunifu provides this kind of continuum between all spheres and reduces,
in some ways, the gap between home and school.
The teaching methods adopted by the Ubunifu way of considering integrating curricula
employ a model of teaching as reflective practice, which means contemplating ways
people think, make decisions, and reflect on the consequences of those decisions (Zeichner
and Liston 1987). Teachers collective and individual analyses of life in classrooms (i.e.
teachers examine critically their experiences, knowledge and values) assist students
development as active, knowledgeable global citizens, systematically approaching the
world within which they live.
From previous discussion and recent research (Semali and Mehta 2012), arguably, given
the two often contrasting ways of learning and the two contrasting worldviews encompassing
different conceptions of the phenomena of learning in schools to be effective, integration is
necessarythat is, bringing into classrooms both the knowledge and the ways of knowing
developed in out-of-school contexts. Equally arguable is that informal learning processes in
themselves can produce continuities necessary for learning new classroom materials, and
therefore, capable of producing durable conceptions, knowledge, and skills.
iSPACESan explicit example of curriculum integration
iSPACES stands for Innovation, Science, Practicals, Application, Conceptualization,

Entrepreneurship and Systems. This iSPACES instructional model is an explicit example
of curriculum integration experiment that draws from systems-thinking approach and a
holistic framework to science education. It shows that knowledge exists in plural forms and
as visually represented in Fig. 5, it embraces a selection of inter-connected spheres of
knowledge that bring to bear the integration of indigenous knowledge and western science
at the classroom level, a new kind of knowledge hybridization (Shizha 2006).
123
Fig. 5 iSPACES instructional model for teaching secondary school science. Source: Adapted from Semali
& Mehta (2012), p. 237
Within this instructional model, iSPACES adopts the proposition that organisms are
open systems which must interact with other systems outside of themselves. The concept of
systems-thinking suggests that a systems-approach integrates the analytic and the synthetic
method, encompassing both holism and reductionism. The systems concept was first
proposed under the name of General System Theory by the Austrian biologist Ludwig
von Bertalanffy (1950, 1951) who noted that organisms are open systems: they cannot
survive without continuously exchanging matter and energy with their environmentthus,
if one separates a living organism from its surroundings, it will die shortly because of lack
of oxygen, water and food.
The pedagogical strategies of iSPACES are unique as they are the outcome of syner-
gistic approach to the integration of indigenous knowledge and Western science at
classroom level to form the third spacesynthesized scienceas previously referenced.
The integration method adopts a holistic systems-thinking approach to explicitly under-
score Ubunifu in STEM teaching. In fact, the inception of holistic and systemic-thinking in
science education was the motivation that drove the design of iSPACES. The impetus for
integration of Ubunifu in STEM subjects was motivated by the quest to pull together the
elements (to a whole) of informal science, community innovations and western science
through classroom assignments, practicals and the valuing of prior knowledge.
Subsequently, a science curriculum that integrates iSPACES in its pedagogy must
examine the gap between research and practice, within which students demonstrate
knowledge of their physical environments with daily innovations to solve communities
problems. However, these innovations occur often without the encouragement of western
science instruction from public schools official science curricula. Therefore, iSPACES
seeks to rethink and redesign science education in Tanzania and elsewhere in order to
purposely integrate Ubunifu in STEM science.
In iSPACES, integration is part of the overall design of the core science subjects
physics, chemistry, and biology. This approach conceptualizes the study of science in a
123
holistic fashion. (See Fig. 5). Holistic implies integrating cultural contexts of relational
aspects of the learners and the ecological influences with relationships of the sciences
subject. The primary objective of iSPACES is to prepare secondary school science teachers
to train high-school students to transcend studying science by memorization to appli-
cation of science and information to address local problems (i.e. designing practical
solutions) and making a living from science (i.e. pursuing entrepreneurial endeavors).
Ubunifu (innovation), represented by i in the acronym iSPACES is a core component
embedded in the overall science curriculum.
As shown in Fig. 5, this models basis is the principles of science, systems, and
entrepreneurship and focuses on critical exploration and practical skills that aim to solve life-
problems with an entrepreneurial mindset. The aim is to produce products that improve lives
and comfort (Semali and Mehta 2012). Besides the core courses of physics, chemistry and
biology, the curriculum maintains a conceptual framework that includes a holistic systems
approach encompassing (a) Cores Science, (b) Practicals, (c) Applications, (d) Conceptual-
izations, (UbunifuDesign and Prototyping), (e) Entrepreneurship, and (f) Systems.
In this framework, Ubunifu is the overarching concept of curriculum integration that
binds the iSPACES components. The assumption is to build a science curriculum that
avoids what Frank Tipler (1995) called the ontological reductionisms concept of science
(p. 294). The holistic concept of iSPACES shuns the idea that the world is fragmented or a
random collection of jigsaw puzzle pieces, which assumes separateness of discreet
subjects, factoids, mathematical formulas and equations. A holistic systemic-thinking
examines new assumptions that are both appropriate to the desired outcomes and are
realistic, reasonable, and practical (Clark 1997, p. 15).
These assumptions have foundations in research, experience, intuition, and insight
regarding human nature and potential, and, at a more fundamental level, the nature of the
universe and humans relationship to it as observed by research in many fields, including
physics, anthropology, psychology, and others.
This instructional model embedded in iSPACES perceives science education, not as a
separate or isolated subject from the social sciences, but instead as an integral part of a
web of networked world knowledge systems. Figure 5 represents a framework of this
world knowledge system with small circles within a larger circle, and using arrows to
represent the relationships within and between the entwined components, namely: (1)
society and culture, (2) the inhabited (planetary systems), (3) industry, (4) government and
law, (5) religion and ethics, (6) environment, (7) and ecological systems. Some basic
questions reflecting the integrative parts or hybridity of iSPACES include: (1) how does the
universe work? (2) How do people interact with the physical environment? (3) How do
experiences affect decisions and choices in the role of citizens of the universe? (4) How has
the past shaped the present and how will the present shape the future? The assumption of
integrating Ubunifu in STEM education is to emphasize the goal of educational reform in
East Africa and stakeholders commitments to change current secondary-level, science
pedagogy. For example, the Tanzania Institute of Education [TIE] (2007) explained:
The revision process has been focusing on change of paradigm from that of content
based on a competence based curriculum where the student is the main actor and the
teacher is the facilitator. The student uses prior knowledge and experience to acquire
new knowledge and skills by cooperating with others. (p. v)
Perhaps, iSPACES illustrates a change of paradigm and therefore compliments and
underscores the goals of TIE in Tanzania to reflect local culture and value prior knowledge
and community innovations as resources rather than cultural deficits in science classrooms.
123
Perhaps, in this respect, iSPACES could reflect community innovations. If this assumption
is true, the question that arises is: how might African schools motivate students in science
classrooms to strengthen their (prior) knowledge with examples of Ubunifu, informal
science and community innovations, to meet modern challenges and seek solutions to solve
basic problems that continue to mire African society.
History of community innovationAfrican science
Table 2 presents a short summary of the history of indigenous science in East Africa. This
history captures specific community innovations that span the gamut: from medical
practices and medicinal plants to surgery to physics, chemistry and astronomy (Lowe
1988).
This table illustrates the creativity, discovery and innovative inclinations of Africans
that has existed for millennia. None of this history appears in secondary schools, and none
of the subjects set for the Ordinary Level Secondary School examinations contain these
materials. Nor are students assessed in such materials in national secondary school
examinations. Over years, the history of science taught in East African schools reflected,
almost entirely, Western/European male perspectives. Undoubtedly, history of innovations
and stories in particular, are the universal avenue for teaching. Many indigenous cultures
use stories to convey their histories or events through words, images, proverbs, and sounds,
particularly music. Stories or narratives have a long shared tradition in every culture as a
means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and often to instill moral values
that are specific to a particular community (Swift 1992).
However, few examples exist in East Africa, which demonstrate stories use to overcome
persisting intellectual barriers that have historically served to devalue knowledge generated
outside the bastions of academia or the corporate world. Stories can build rapport and
personally connect with others because stories transcend language, culture and often dis-
ciplines. Significant documentation by ethnographers supports the use of stories as an
educational tool and a potent research paradigm for indigenous communities.
As an outgrowth of economic history, social history emphasizes structures and the
interaction of different groups in society rather than affairs of the state. Social history uses
many historic narratives and oral histories to provide an overview of the effects of history
on populations. Narratives are the building blocks of social history, but all historic nar-
ratives, oral histories, and social history gain enrichment from context or knowledge of the
significant historic events that shaped individual experiences. Given the African reality that
students bring to the classroom, ideas based on lived or prior experiences and that students
of different cultural backgrounds frequently interpret science concepts differently than the
standard scientific view (Cobern 1994, 1996), some scholars of indigenous knowledge
suggest that teachers need to begin the exploration of multicultural science instruction with
prior knowledge and innovation skills that children bring to the classroom (Atwater and
Riley 1993).
As currently taught, Ubunifu and STEM subjects do not overlap sufficiently, nor is
integration of the two contemplated. For this reason, Ubunifu should be a component of
schools curriculum and not limited to exposure at home. Ubunifu is more than mere
innovation or discovery, as in the western sense, despite the important distinction from
school knowledge or school science, particularly when the mode of transfer is from one
generation to the next. In essence, Ubunifu is a cultural enterprise.
123
Table 2 Summary of history of Ubunifu in East Africa related to western science fields
884
Ubunifu descriptions Western science (STEM

subjects)
123
1,5002,000 years ago near Lake Victoria, carbon steel was made in blast furnaces. The temperature achieved in the furnaces, 18,000 C, was Physics
much higher than was managed in Europe until modern times
Physics and Earth Science. Fire was first used 1,400,000 years ago in Chesowanja, near Lake Baringo in Kenya
An iron-ore mine in Swaziland, the oldest found in the world, was dated as 43,000 years old. The ore specularite was used as a cosmetic and
pigment
Africans were skilled surgeons. In 1879 in East Africa, a European observed an African doctor carry out a caesarian section successfully, using Biology (medical Science)
antiseptic techniques, before this type of operation had been done successfully in Europe
Extraction of edible oil from Shea Nut tree (YAO) in Lango, Uganda Food science
Sun-dried Shea Nuts (Yao) seeds are separated from the outer shells, mixed with ashes (ashes prevent burning), and fried. The roasted nuts are
cleaned off ashes and pounded into a smooth paste. The paste is mixed with water and put on an open fire in a saucepan or pot, and oils
drained as they float to the top, and kept in a cool container (pot)
Cloth-making technology in Buganda, Uganda and animal skin from other parts of Uganda Chemistry
The inner bark of the Mutuba tree (ficus natalensis) is harvested during the wet season and then beaten with different types of wooden mallets
(sometimes mixing with dyes or wrapped in assorted leaves to soften the fabric) to make its texture soft and fine and give it an even terracotta
color
Fermented milk from pastoral communities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda Food science
Raw milk poured into a gourd or pot, and gourd transferred to a warm place until the milk has soured and coagulated. Fresh batches of milk
may be added each day with or without previous removal of whey, until the gourd or clay pot is full. The fermented milk may be consumed as
such or churned to produce butter, consumed or sold
Medicinal Practice and Medicinal Plants in Kenya and East Africa Botany (medical science)
Ferns (treat intestinal worms); Thunbergia alata (treat wounds in mouth and tongue); lannea stuhlmannii (headache and stomach pains); Rhus
natalensis (treats influenza, abdominal pain, gonorrhea, and hookworm); Carissa edulis (treat indigestion, abdominal pain in pregnant women,
roots decoction treats malaria
Beekeeping in East Africa Natural science
Traditional herbs/plants Biology
Ghee-making in East Africa (pastoral communities) Food science
Butter is heated until it is ready as judged by color (light brown for the ghee residue and (straw yellow) for the melted butterfat. The molten
butterfat is decanted and is then termed ghee
L. M. Semali et al.
Conclusion and lessons learned
This discussion examines the relationship between informal science and indigenous
innovations in local communities and how a regions educational systems continue to
discount or ignore local cultural contexts. The concerns are the challenges that educational
systems in East Africa face and the dominance of western knowledge and solutions for
social, economic, and technological developmental problems. The current paradigms shift
toward promoting education for sustainable development gravitates toward alternative
approaches to school curricula in East Africa in particular and in Sub-Saharan Africa in
general.
Arguably, solutions to problems that currently plague the continent, in particular to
Kenyan, Tanzanian, and Ugandan contexts, must proceed from understanding of local
capacities, such as the role of indigenous knowledge and community innovations in pro-
moting sustainable development. The discussion provides a definition of the African
concept of Ubunifu, a notion that captures the confluence of African indigenous knowl-
edge, creativity, discovery and innovation, and proposes benefits of Ubunifu to comple-
ment western (or external) technological diffusion. A troubling question remains: How can
the quest for Ubunifu in- or out-of school-settings stimulate interest in STEM subjects
especially for women and minority students? The irony is that sub-populations from
minority or indigenous groups have a perceived weakness for scientific subjects and fre-
quently use informal science to solve problems at home and in neighborhoods. However,
teachers value little or none of this knowledge, and therefore, this concern attains little
attention in the learning that occurs in schools. In short, Ubunifu receives no encourage-
ment or promotion.
Perspectives on Ubunifu point to the need for teachers to probe for and incorporate prior
beliefs found in indigenous childrens conversations and consider possibilities for multiple
scientific perspectives and traditions in the classroom that encourage mutual respect as well
as explorations of differing solutions. Cross-cultural science teachers will need a cur-
riculum that recognizes a communitys indigenous knowledge or worldview and simul-
taneously create a need to know western science (Cobern 1994). As such, a unit of study
might include Indigenous Knowledge (IK) along with western science content to explore
certain phenomena in-depth. (See discussion on practical ways of implementing the
iSPACES STEM curriculum and assessment in Semali 2013, pp. 3246).
This effort responds to the quest: To ensure that learners gain information of the full
history of ideas and events that shaped and continues to shape human activities and
development. Valuing the perspectives outlined in this paper is critical to designing new
methods of teaching and learning that address the convergence of knowledges and the gap
between students lived experiences and western science taught in classrooms.
For teachers in East Africa, the reality is that the local environment and culture will
continue to be important in forming cultural symbols and symbolic expressions that pro-
mote the learning of science. Consequently, the proposal is that future studies use this
argument and examples of innovative concepts formed across cultures to further inform the
thesis of the importance of the local context and local knowledge, and the role that such
indigenous science plays in understanding in classrooms STEM scientific concepts. In
sum, the proposal is that integrating Ubunifu in STEM is a worthwhile place to begin the
dialogue among students, teachers, parents, and policy-makers.
Acknowledgments The project was sponsored by Pennsylvania State Universitys Office of Global
Programs and Makumira University, Tanzania. This article is second in a series that describes the iSPACES
123
experiment (see, Semali & Mehta 2012, International Journal of Educational Research 53, 225239). Many
individuals who contributed to this project in Tanzania and in the United States; the developers of the
curriculums materials, and colleagues who read several drafts and whose comments were most valuable to
improve the manuscript require grateful acknowledgement.
References
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Ladislaus M. Semali is Professor of Education and a faculty member at the Pennsylvania State University,
Department of Learning and Performance Systems, specializing in Comparative and International
Education, Social Science Education, Commutations Media and Adult Literacy Education. He is the Co-
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Indigenous and ecological literacies at both undergraduate and graduate levels.
123
Adelina Hristova is a doctoral candidate in Adult Education in the college of Education at Pennsylvania
State University. Her research interest is mainly focused on analysis of uses of new technologies using
cultural historical activity theory.
Sylvia A. Owiny is Social Sciences Librarian and a Ph.D. candidate in Adult Education and Comparative
and International Education at The Pennsylvania State University. Her research has focused on indigenous
knowledge, and on improving access and the provision of information and knowledge in academic
institutions and to oral cultures. She has authored and co-authored peer-reviewed articles and a
chapter section; presented papers and conducted workshops at local, national, and international conferences.
123

Integrating Ubunifu, Informal Science, and Community Innovations in Science Classrooms in East Africa

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Cult Stud of Sci Educ (2015) 10:865889

Integrating Ubunifu, informal science, and community

Ladislaus M. Semali1 Adelina Hristova2 Sylvia A. Owiny2

Keywords Integration Indigenous innovations Informal science Ubunifu iSPACES

Lead editor: E. Afonso.

& Ladislaus M. Semali

The second consideration is presentation of the proposed experimental iSPACES instruc-

Indigenous knowledge and informal science debates

Indigenous knowledge and Africas unique contributions to science

Ubunifu in community innovations

Physics 40.31 45 58.1b

Sources: a School Inspection Programme for Secondary Schools in Tanzania. http://www.performanceaudit.

Fig. 2 Koroboikerosine lamp

Integrating Ubunifu in STEM subjects

Fig. 3 Marimba: using

Fig. 4 Example of Katambuga

experiences, prior knowledge, cultural knowledge, intuition, and organizational frames of

iSPACESan explicit example of curriculum integration

iSPACES stands for Innovation, Science, Practicals, Application, Conceptualization,

History of community innovationAfrican science

Ubunifu descriptions Western science (STEM

Conclusion and lessons learned

Harman, W. (2011). Designing and implementing an integrated curriculum: A student-centered approach.

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