Students’ Perceptions of Learning Ecology through Indigenous Knowledge in Secondary Schools in Dodoma, Tanzania

Abstract

Purpose: This study explored secondary-school students' perceptions of learning ecology through Indigenous Knowledge (IK) in Dodoma, Tanzania, addressing a gap in the literature: despite growing recognition of IK as a resource for contextualizing science education, limited evidence explains how students themselves experience its use in ecology lessons.

Methodology: This paper reports the student-focused component of a qualitative multiple-case study involving 32 Form Six Biology students drawn from four secondary schools in Dodoma. Data were collected through focus group discussions, classroom observations, and documentary review, and were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. The interpretation was guided by Constructivist Learning Theory, which treats students' community-based environmental experiences as prior knowledge through which they construct ecological understanding.

Findings: Students perceived IK as a valuable instructional resource: familiar examples drawn from farming, seasonal observation, and environmental conservation clarified ecological concepts, increased interest and participation, connected classroom learning to real-life practices, and promoted appreciation of community knowledge. At the same time, students reported inconsistent implementation of IK across lessons, limited instructional time devoted to it, and weak explanation of the relationship between Indigenous and scientific knowledge. The documentary review corroborated this pattern, showing limited explicit curriculum guidance for systematic IK integration into ecology teaching.

Unique Contribution to Theory, Practice, and Policy: Theoretically, the study extends Constructivist Learning Theory into an underrepresented empirical setting by demonstrating, from students' own perspectives rather than teachers', For practice, the findings give ecology and biology teachers concrete grounds for using farming, seasonal, and conservation-related examples not simply as illustrative content but as deliberate bridges to formal ecological concepts, and signal that doing so consistently, rather than occasionally, can support student interest, participation, and perceived relevance. For policy, the study provides context-specific evidence that curriculum authorities and teacher-training institutions in Tanzania can draw on to strengthen teacher preparation and to develop clearer, more explicit curriculum guidance for the systematic integration of indigenous and scientific knowledge in ecology and biology syllabi.