Pursuing epistemological plurality in South Africa's Eco-Schools: Discursive rules for knowledge legitimation

Article

Ryan, Lisa and Ferreira, Jo-Anne. 2019. "Pursuing epistemological plurality in South Africa's Eco-Schools: Discursive rules for knowledge legitimation." Southern African Journal of Environmental Education. 35, pp. 1-19. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajee.v35i1.2
Article Title

Pursuing epistemological plurality in South Africa's Eco-Schools: Discursive rules for knowledge legitimation

ERA Journal ID41560
Article CategoryArticle
AuthorsRyan, Lisa (Author) and Ferreira, Jo-Anne (Author)
Journal TitleSouthern African Journal of Environmental Education
Journal Citation35, pp. 1-19
Number of Pages19
Year2019
Place of PublicationSouth Africa
ISSN0256-7504
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.4314/sajee.v35i1.2
Web Address (URL)https://www.ajol.info/index.php/sajee/article/view/186415
Abstract

Efforts to re-appropriate indigenous knowledges reveal a discursive friction experienced by Eco-School support workers in South Africa as they attempt to build an epistemologically pluralistic curriculum. This paper outlines the strategies that South African Eco-School support workers and teachers employ in negotiating this friction and highlights the discursive rules that govern what constitutes legitimate knowledge in the South African Eco-School. The unintended consequences of these strategies that may affect the representation of indigenous peoples is also discussed.

KeywordsEco-School, discourse analysis, indigenous knowledge, postcolonial theory
ANZSRC Field of Research 2020390105. Environmental education curriculum and pedagogy
390203. Sociology of education
390499. Specialist studies in education not elsewhere classified
390401. Comparative and cross-cultural education
390303. Higher education
Byline AffiliationsSouthern Cross University
Institution of OriginUniversity of Southern Queensland
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