Exploring Indigenous Knowledge: A Narrative Inquiry of English Teachers

Abstract The locally originated and transferred across generations with day-to-day life activities is indigenous knowledge and skills. This article aims to investigate the knowledge and experiences of indigenous knowledge of teachers teaching English at secondary-level schools in Simta Rural Municipality, Surkhet, Nepal. This narrative inquiry was based on the focused interview of two teachers who were born and raised in the study area. Based on the objectives, the information was transcribed, coded, and categorized, and a conclusion: massive implementation of indigenous knowledge with terminological variations, and high familiarity with the indigenous knowledge, especially among the impoverished, confident about the usefulness of the indigenous knowledge but reluctant to share it in formal classes because of various reasons. Moreover, educationists already started keeping local knowledge in the social subject curriculum. Further, the participant teachers raised issues with the local authority to make the local curriculum with the local content as a dawn mark for the inclusion of indigenous knowledge and skills in formal education. Indigenous knowledge and skills not only make learning practical but also play a vital role in the sustainable development of the economy, ecology, and society. Thus, recommended to implement local knowledge and skills as the form of school curriculum.