Abstract
Although the South African Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) document embraces local Indigenous Knowledge (IK), it does not specify how this should be implemented in the classrooms. As a result, little to no integration of IK is enacted in many of the Life Sciences classrooms. It is against this background that the study reported herein explored Grade 11 Life Sciences teachers' understandings of IK when teaching biodiversity of plants and related concepts. This study employed a qualitative research approach, which is underpinned by the interpretive paradigm. A case study research design was employed. Data was collected from five purposefully selected Grade 11 Life Sciences teachers in the Nkangala District in Mpumalanga, one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The selection of the participants was largely because they were easily available and that they were Grade 11 Life Sciences teachers at the schools where they were teaching. The teachers had a wide range of teaching experience (at least five years), meaning that they were assumed to be familiar with the CAPS document requirements on the integration of IK into teaching and learning process and the implementation gaps thereof. To generate data, open-ended interviews were employed. Each teacher was interviewed twice, firstly to determine their conceptualisation of IK integration, and secondly to explore their understandings of the integration of IK when teaching the topic Biodiversity of plants and related concepts. Vygotsky's social constructivism was adopted as the theoretical framework informing the data collection methods that addressed the research question. The data was analysed using the constant comparative method and three themes emerged from the patterns depicting teachers' understandings of the integration of IK when teaching biodiversity of plants and related concepts in Grade 11 learners' classrooms. Firstly, the findings of the study revealed that teachers understood the integration of IK as an effort to mainstream IK so that it could be given the same recognition as Western knowledge. Secondly, teachers viewed integration of IK as an additive to Western knowledge and not as a standalone legitimate form of knowledge. Thirdly, teachers viewed integration of IK as a way of fostering empowerment and justice to the marginalised communities who strive to utilise their own community heritage to solve own problems and develop their families and communities. The findings have implications for both teacher professional development and classroom practices.