Framing towards Epistemic Decolonization

The struggle for epistemic freedom in African education is central to the ongoing efforts to decolonize the curriculum and empower students to center knowledge within their contexts. The presentation presents how framing could be a powerful tool for Nigerian high school teachers in advancing epistemic decolonization in physics teaching and learning by challenging entrenched colonial narratives and centering knowledge production. I define framing as the deliberate act of shaping how knowledge is presented.Historically, physics has been taught to students in a way that encourages them to think, theorize, and interpret the world through a Eurocentric lens, which often alienates them from their own cultural and intellectual traditions. This imposition of Western ways of knowing has contributed to marginalizing indigenous knowledge systems in science. Reclaiming epistemic freedom, therefore, is a crucial step towards fostering a more inclusive and culturally relevant approach to teaching science, one that acknowledges and celebrates alternative ways of knowing and thinking. Through interviews with eight Nigerian physics teachers, this study investigates how teachers frame canonical physics knowledge in their teaching and how they can develop alternative strategies that leverage students' cultural ways of learning. By deliberately reframing science education, teachers can highlight the interconnectedness of indigenous knowledge systems and modern scientific principles, showing their relevance to students’ lived experiences amidst the ongoing coloniality happening in Nigeria.