Indian Knowledge Systems And Their Contribution To Science Teaching Methods In Teacher Education: A Research Paper

Abstract

Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS) have re-emerged as an important curricular and pedagogical concern in Indian education policy, particularly after the National Education Policy 2020 and the subsequent University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines on integrating IKS into higher education and teacher training In teacher education, IKS is not limited to cultural appreciation; the official guidance explicitly links it to pedagogy, interdisciplinarity, authentic source use, case-based teaching, field visits, micro-research, and the mapping of traditional knowledge domains to modern subjects such as chemistry, mathematics, physics, agriculture, and environmental studies This paper examines how IKS can contribute to teaching methods in science-oriented teacher training courses by developing a policy-grounded, research-style analytical framework that is suitable for B.Ed., M.Ed., integrated teacher education, and faculty orientation contexts.

The study adopts a qualitative document-analysis method supported by descriptive statistical modeling derived from official implementation roadmaps and curricular recommendations published by the UGC To make the paper more scientific and statistical in orientation, the analysis converts recurring policy recommendations into coded pedagogical categories and uses simple frequency and proportion tables, along with graphs derived from official training-roadmap data, to illustrate the relative emphasis placed on induction, refresher, multidisciplinary integration, authentic sources, and science-linked case studies The paper argues that IKS contributes to science teaching methods in at least five ways: by strengthening contextualized learning, promoting interdisciplinary reasoning, connecting theory with observation and practice, encouraging inquiry rooted in multiple knowledge traditions, and broadening concept formation through historically grounded examples from mathematics, astronomy, metallurgy, Ayurveda, ecology, and water management

The paper concludes that IKS can enrich teacher training only when it is implemented with scholarly rigor, authenticity of sources, avoidance of exaggeration, and explicit pedagogical mapping to learning outcomes in modern science education It recommends curriculum redesign, faculty development, module-based training, validated resource banks, assessment reform, and classroom research in order to integrate IKS into teacher education in a balanced and evidence-oriented manner