2.2 Rationality is universal but variations depend on a context sanctioned by a cultural group or community. Rationality is an act in accordance with a culturally validated referential system. Issues of political power and student identity were recognised. 2.4 Philosophers can help articulate differences among cultural groups. 2.5 Diversity among cultures needs to be recognised, therefore in some cultures in which science is not indigenous, science should not be demeaning to the host culture.
Science is only one way of making sense out of the physical world.
However, one needs to make a curricular decision over the extent to which non-Western ways should appear in the science classroom. 2.6 For students to make sense out of science they need to cross cultural borders between their indigenous culture and the culture of science. Therefore teachers need to help students cross these cultural borders, i.e. teachers need to be cultural brokers. 2.7 Collateral learning is a coping mechanism, on the one hand, to take in science ideas that conflict with a student ' s cosmology, while on the other hand, to rationalise holding two apparently conflicting ideas in one ' s mind. When students base their reasoning on a non-Western scientific worldview, they tend to be inhibited from constructing science concepts.