Page 455 - Cultural Studies of Science Education

430 P. Chigeza and H. Whitehouse

We will work with linguists at the Cairns Institute at James Cook during the coming
years to further explore how to bring the conceptual resources of Torres Strait
Creole into the junior science classroom to formulate bi-dialectical physical science
learning opportunities.
In the meantime, Philemon, the classroom teacher, has been trying more
culturally familiar ways to teach concepts of energy and force. Philemon has
thought about the possibility of a “Creole science” for quite some time.
Michie’s (2002) position is that attempts at translation can and do lead to
rewrites of meaning. Translation is not a general solution to the overall prob-
lematic of field negotiations. However, Philemon has run a successful teaching
career working in English and thinking in Shona. He became convinced that
explicitly using language resources of students would assist conceptual learning
in English. Differences between the western science and indigenous islander
knowledge systems exist at several levels: on a conceptual content level, which
is the focus of this study, and at the levels of epistemology (ways of knowing)
and ontology (ways of being) that inform these knowledge systems (Nakata
2007). The epistemological and ontological questions are germane to an
academic discussion of this study, and we discuss such further in the next section,
but bear in mind Philemon’s research focus was always on improving classroom
practices.
Our foray through Torres Strait Creole dictionaries (Ray 2001) revealed some
effective translations are possible when considering learning concepts of energy
and force through specific contexts. It is also an easy task to teach concepts using
familiar terms. When learning about energy transfer, Philemon used the kup mauri,
also known as a kopa mauri, a traditional sand oven used to cook food for feasting.
Students used their commonly shared knowledge of how to properly build a kup
mauri in which vegetables and meat are cooked together, to explore how heat
energy is transferred from one object to another and to compare the properties and
energy efficiencies of traditional oven materials and modern convection ovens
using scientific terms. Here is an extract of dialogue between Philemon (P) and four
students (B1, B2, B3 & G1) learning about energy transfer with the kup mauri in
March 2008:
P: Why do you put pork at the bottom and vegetables at the top?
B1: Its more hot so you put pork, if you put vegetables it burns.
P: So we can learn about heat distribution in the Kup Mauri oven.
B1: Mister we can learn science when cooking Kup Mauri, that’s cool.
B3: No science is them big words, I hate them.
P: Yes we can learn science when cooking Kup Mauri, and today we will use
two science words: conduction and convection to describe how heat follows.
G1: My aunt say if you are slake and not cover the Kup Mauri the food burns.
(students laugh)
B2: I was told that, why so Mister?
P: What do you think?
G1: Aunt says wind make food burn.