Mat Noor, M.S.A. orcid.org/0000-0003-4123-7357 and Roslan, R. (2025) An exploration of Iban communities’ indigenous funds of knowledge as an imperative resource for the STEAM curriculum-making process in Brunei Darussalam. Cultural Studies of Science Education. ISSN: 1871-1502
Abstract
In colonial-based, mainstream educational systems, conventional teaching methods and curricula have been imposed on indigenous communities, often resulting in the neglect or devaluation of indigenous knowledge and ways of learning. This paper aims to explore the indigenous funds of knowledge of three Iban communities in Brunei Darussalam and to investigate the extent to which that knowledge can be utilized in the creation of a Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) curriculum. To explore the indigenous funds of knowledge, we collected qualitative data via 9 focus group interviews with 24 primary school children (aged 6 to 12 years old), with 2–3 children participating in each group, 6 household visits with 10 parents, 5 interviews with 7 teachers, and other ethnographic data collection methods. As a result, five indigenous funds of knowledge were identified: agricultural skills, foraging and hunting, fishing and river activities, household management, and business and economic activities. The study offers timely discussions regarding the importance of incorporating indigenous funds of knowledge into the STEAM curriculum-making process in the context of primary school syllabi and textbooks in Brunei Darussalam. The mapped out Iban funds of knowledge and the exemplar STEAM curriculum seek to facilitate primary school teachers, curriculum designers, teacher educators and academics in the integration of this knowledge within different school curriculum areas. This study provides a significant contribution to STEAM education and curriculum-making research by highlighting the importance of culturally relevant curricula for indigenous children and by offering a comprehensive practitioner-oriented approach.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC-BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | Culturally relevant curriculum; Curriculum-making; Funds of knowledge; Indigenous knowledge; Primary STEAM |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Education (Leeds) |
Date Deposited: | 07 Oct 2025 15:34 |
Last Modified: | 07 Oct 2025 15:34 |
Status: | Published online |
Publisher: | Springer Nature |
Identification Number: | 10.1007/s11422-025-10265-3 |
Sustainable Development Goals: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:232537 |