Sugilanon sa katunggan: Co-inquiry on mangrove conservation knowledge and practices for culturally relevant research and instruction

Abstract

The study aimed to draw out the conservation knowledge and practices from the community funds of knowledge of a mangrove community in order to produce culturally relevant instructional materials in the teaching of college Ecology. It used narrative inquiry as research methodology to generate and analyze data from participants of the study. There were 35 residents of "katunggan", where the researcher and her co inquirers, seven pre-service biology teachers, engaged in a "sugilanon sa katunggan", a story-telling conversation with the primary participants of the study. Interviews from primary participants in the study were reconstructed into narratives, focusing on the conservation knowledge and practices from "katunggan". Analysis of their narratives revealed that the conservation knowledge and practices are embedded in three themes surrounding the issues of conservation knowledge and practices brought about by the participants', (a) superstitious beliefs not to touch some mangrove trees out of fear of unseen spirits, (b) need to conserve mangroves as a source of livelihood, and (c) recognition of the importance of mangrove species in diversity. The research team learned the following: (1) "There were more mangroves now than before"; (2) They were "amazed at the diversity of organisms"; (3) Mangrove knowledge and practices are transmissible; and (4) Mangroves have specific habitat. The third research question on how pre-service biology teachers transform their research experiences was answered by analyzing their narratives into "funds of knowledge" to identify science practices and products. Science practices and products were further analyzed into cultural memory banks to come up with useful, culturally relevant instructional materials such as culturally relevant science lesson plans and activities. The study recommended that the pre-service science teacher preparation curriculum should include community immersion and engagement as part of the curriculum to empower pre-service science teachers to produce culturally relevant lesson plans and activities.