3.4 Concepts taught in school science are often taught with little regard to the everyday experience of students. Therefore, school science knowledge tends not to be applied in indigenous or everyday settings. 3.5 People often use non scientific ideas to help them understand natural phenomena. These ideas can be matters of non systematic common sense. They also can be grounded in systematic philosophical or religious thought.
Indigenous communities explain natural phenomenon through their own rational means.
Systematic religious thought as a source of explanation of natural phenomena is particularly important in non-Western cultures. 3.6 Students who identify themselves with a marginalised or an oppressed group do not likely achieve in science education unless they feel that the school and the science class support their social or cultural identity. 3.7 Researchers and stakeholders in science education with interests in cultural issues tend to be marginalised within the professional community. Therefore, every culture will have potential scientists among its youth, but this proportion will be small even in Western cultures. Moreover, there are differences between student worldviews and the worldview projected in a Western science classrooms and textbooks.