This article explores the possibilities of the use of eco-san in the school garden in the Nepalese community school, focusing on transformative pedagogical impacts on the social learning environment of the school. In particular, the use of urine as a fertilizer in the school garden through eco-san and linking pedagogical alignment to provide a pleasant experience that has a positive impact on students’ meaningful engagement, social connections, and developing confidence. The main finding for the research question came from qualitative data collected from students, parents, and teachers through in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, participant observations and informal conversations. This was supported by analyses of qualitative data on students’ learning, collaborative inquiry, teachers' and parents' engagement and perceptions on the use of human urine as fertilizer from eco-san, and school gardening activities. Results showed that the gardening program attributes valued most highly by the parents and teachers included increased students' meaningful engagement, opportunities for experiential and integrated learning through dialogue conferences, collaborative inquiry, and building social skills like cooperation, sharing and argumentation. Future research should explore whether effects persist over time and if and how changes in students’ positive attitude affect learning through school gardening activities applying human. Suggestions for applying results to future studies are provided.

https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1249249.pdf

Small Change is Beautiful: Exploring Possibilities of Eco-san on School Garden for Transformative Pedagogy

This paper discusses the possibilities of student-centered and project-based learning in science, health and population subjects of community high school students in Nepal. Besides, it deals with how high school students meaningfully engaged in participatory activities and consequently acknowledge the necessity for creative and active teaching learning activities. Despite various contextual realities and identities, the study explored few contextually appropriate project methods to transform teaching learning activities in science, health and population subjects in the community high schools. The qualitative method was applied in this research. Data/information was collected from classroom observation, in-depth interviews and informal conversations. The data from all the sources were analyzed by content-thematic and conversation analysis keeping in minds to explore the possibilities of project work of learning. The study found that students’ engagement in project activities as a part of study science, health and population subjects are positive and targeted towards learning competencies. Nevertheless, to apply this method, school head teachers, teachers and local authority related to education need to play vital roles for the effective implementation of project works in the community high schools in Nepal.

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Exploring Possibilities of Project Work to Transfer Pedagogy: Cases of Community High Schools in Nepal

This study explores the situation of basic level community school boy and girl students’ science and health learning through collaborative culture. Fifth, sixth and seventh-grade students (both boys and girls) took part in this study. As per the aim of this study, a set of questionnaire was developed and administered to the sampled students. Two hundred and fifty-eight students were selected from the sampled school using the census sampling technique. All the students were involved in collaborative learning activities such as building trust and open communication, establishing group interaction, respect diversity and sharing creative ideas based on the basic level science and health curriculum aiming at promoting inquiry learning through collaboration. A quantitative analysis involving the use of the Chi-square test at 0.05 level of significance, Likelihood ratio and Somer’s symmetric was conducted to see the association between the variables. The results showed that science and health collaborative learning activities by gender were not associated significantly. There was no statistically significant difference (α=0.05) between the variables studied. The findings showed a weak association with gender and collaborative science and health learning activities in the classrooms.

/pdf/collaborative-learning-practices-by-gender-a-case-of-a-152t7h7fsx.pdf

Collaborative Learning Practices by Gender: A Case of a Community School in Nepal.

Literature on school education suggests that teaching and learning science in basic level community schools in Nepal is largely theoretical. Consequently, achievement levels and the understanding o...

School gardening activities as contextual scaffolding for learning science: participatory action research in a community school in Nepal

Ethno science practice as Indigenous wisdom: challenges to braiding with Western-based school science curriculum

The Science in the Learning Home (SciLH) program was designed to address two well-documented, inter-related educational problems observed in the Community High Schools in Nepal. The first relates to the achievement of students in science in Secondary Education Examination (SEE), which is below average (33 out of 75 i.e. 44%), and the second concerns the insufficiencies of the resources and instruction to discourse their traditional and livelihood requirements through school science learning activities. Funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC), Nepal, as a Small Research Development and Innovation Grants (SRDIG) to the faculty member, SciLH is a title set by the researcher to provide a new and innovative concept to learn science from the home and cultural practices. The tenth-grade high school students and the community people (parents) participated in the study. Livelihood practices and activities at the home link SciLH concept aligns with the school science curriculum and textbooks with that of cultural practices. This research article offers a framework to explore factors which support the accomplishment of the ethnically different student population and parents using the outline of ethno-perspective.

/pdf/im-possibility-of-learning-science-through-livelihood-1q3obhuar8.pdf

Im)Possibility of Learning Science Through Livelihood Activities at Community Schools in Nepal

This paper attempted to present the current status of science education in Nepal in terms of the country-specific problems, challenges, and prospects. Despite government efforts in improving education, by implementing reforms programmes, developing schools infrastructure, increasing the education budget, training teachers, and others, Nepal’s science education is lagging in many ways. Various challenges, obstacles, and problems stand in the way of science education development in Nepal. Nepal’s education policies are highly focused on policy inputs but silent about the journey. Lack of collaborative efforts, poor management system, insufficient funding, less communication among the stakeholders, etc. are some reasons for the education policies and programmes just remaining as a mere paper declaration. Science education in Nepal is characterized by inadequate institutional setup for its promotion, having no national science competency standards, few science and technology research centers, limited funding in science and technology research, lack of professional science teachers and researchers, etc. The discourse of science education reform has received less attention while reframing government policy and programs. Proper implementation of approved education policies is essential to achieve the desired goal of education. Science education needs to improve significantly emphasizing the sustainable development of the nation. Nepal needs to develop and implementing science education reform policy and programmes, reframing science education curriculum, allocating dedicated funds in infrastructure development, and improving the quality of teachers.KeywordsAssessmentCurriculumPolicyScience educationTeachingTechnology 

Rajani Rajbhandary

Papers

Im)Possibility of Learning Science Through Livelihood Activities at Community Schools in Nepal

Science Education in Nepal: Problems and Prospects