Subsistence Farmers’ Knowledge in Developing Integrated Critical Pedagogy Education Curricula

Abstract

Curricular innovation in the 21st century in education requires significant transformation with regards to political, economic, socio-cultural and environmental concerns such as climate change and sustainability, amongst others. A critical pedagogy approach that includes the hegemonic knowledge debates of Western and Indigenous Knowledge Systems is also integral to this transformation. This study explored the diversity of knowledge of subsistence farmers with regard to their community farming practices and how their knowledge, skills and resilience can be harnessed for education. Seven Black South African subsistence farmers near a teaching university were purposively selected for this qualitative multi-case study. Interviews with them were video-recorded and transcribed. Their experiences and perceptions of politics, economics, environmental concerns and innovations on their local farms were documented and are presented as a case-narrative history of the farmers’ backgrounds. The findings show that farmers have shown resilience with regard to issues such as water conservation, productive use of labour, pest management, local market supply and demands and indigenous knowledge in terms of ploughing, caring for, harvesting and storage of vegetables. It is recommended that local farmers’ knowledge, practices and resilience can be a source of knowledge to be integrated into education curricula. The implication of the research affords insights for opportunities and partnerships with the farming community in developing a critical pedagogy education curriculum that can be of current value in managing climate change and sustainable concerns.