Swartkops Primary School Principal Cikizwa Kona-Mbilana (centre), Dr Ayanda Simayi and Makhosi Madimabe-Mofokeng.
The IKS-STEM Heritage celebration project conceptualised by Dr Ayanda Simayi, a science lecturer in the Mandela University’s Faculty of Education, teaches a culturally diverse cohort of final-year Bachelor of Education and PGCE (Postgraduate Certificate in Education) educators, strategies that provide a more relevant and grounded teaching and learning experience.
The project is dedicated to heritage sustainability, using African pedagogical frameworks to generate a more contextually relevant, decolonised and grounded educational experience.
Dr Simayi in collaboration with Mathematics lecturer Makhosi Madimabe-Mofokeng, achieved this through collaboration with teachers, learners, and community members.
In September this year, the Secondary School of Education Department in the Faculty of Education provided the project financial support, by supplying materials, such as dough and ingredients for making ginger beer, to be used for practical IKS activities at Sanctor High School and Swartkops Primary school.
Sanctor High School Principal Keith Buck (centre), Dr Ayanda Simayi, Makhosi Madimabe-Mofokeng, Dr Naadirah Abader and two PGCE students Masimthande Bailey and Asiphe Ntloko.
In Natural Science, Dr Simayi, took the participants through the steps of preparing traditional sorghum and ginger beer. She showed the direct correlation between scientific conditions favouring rapid scientific bacterial growth in yeast cells in fermentation and IKS testing of the state of readiness of the fermented beer using a glowing log.
The schools prepared different dishes and decorations showcasing their diverse cultural practices, linking traditional IKS to Western science.
Dr Simayi teaching menstruation and sexual concepts using Xhosa IKS
Dr Simayi also linked scientific steps of the menstrual cycle, sexual intercourse and fertilisation using Xhosa IKS.
Acceptable terminology such as exesheni (in time) are used traditionally to teach menstruation, highlighting the need to protect young women from embarrassment.
In Mathematics, Ms Madimabe-Mofokeng used interactive Sotho games, such as Difaha (beadwork), Kgati (skipping rope) and spinning top, to teach exponents and graphs.
Makhosi Madimabe-Mofokeng teaching Mathematics with beads using Sotho IKS.
In both Xhosa and Sotho IKS activities, visual cultural science links and observational reasoning enabled a bridge between IKS and Western science and mathematics concept formation.
In both schools, stakeholders valued IKS for its ability to amplify complex concepts while preserving cultural heritage, highlighting the importance of creating visual cultural links in understanding abstract scientific and mathematical principles.
The project is not only essential for demonstrating IKS as a validated, sophisticated inquiry system but also for grounding the understanding of more abstract biochemical and mathematical concepts within a tangible cultural context.