The South African Curriculum Assessment and Policy Statement (CAPS) emphasises the importance of Indigenous knowledge (IK) integration across all subjects; however, its implementation varies across topics. With this study we explored IK specificity, focusing on how IK is conveyed in life sciences and specifically in healthcare-related topic/content(s) for integration into classroom teaching. While the CAPS for life sciences explicitly indicates that some topics are suitable for IK integration, many lack such integration. Underpinned by an interpretivist paradigm, data collection and analysis involved a juxtaposition of document analysis and a step-by-step process of thematic analysis of the CAPS for life sciences. Data analysis involved an inductive approach to coding, category formation and theme development. The following themes reveal how IK is included, excluded or marginalised in life sciences topics and content: IK-explicit; IK-implicit; IK-ubuntu implicit; IK-healthcare implicit and IK-healthcare explicit. By articulating IK-specificity, this study offers educators a framework to seamlessly integrate IK into life sciences instruction. This fosters cultural relevance and a holistic understanding to enrich classroom learning experiences. Such relevance is particularly significant considering an increasing global dependence on traditional medicine in the form of herbal remedies and medicinal plants’ central position in many communities’ healthcare.

https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v46n3a2620

ORCiD iDs of authors:
Eyitayo Julius Ajayi – https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1697-5016
Lydia Mavuru - https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9099-0746