Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge Systems to improve culturally responsive Social Work practices

Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge Systems to improve culturally responsive Social Work practices

Phoke Alpha Rakgwata & Mmaphuti Mamaleka

Issue: Vol. 7 No.4 2026 Article 4 pp.1000 – 1015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2026744| Published online 19th May 2026

53 Downloads

DOWNLOAD PDF

ABSTRACT

This article argues that incorporating Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) into social work practice can significantly improve the effectiveness and relevance of interventions for Indigenous communities, thus fostering culturally responsive and decolonial frameworks. Beginning with an examination of the historical exclusion of Indigenous perspectives in social work, the study sought to identify and articulate the values, principles, and practices inherent in IKS that can inform contemporary social work interventions. The research involved a qualitative study with 15 participants from the Greater Letaba Municipality, Limpopo, South Africa. The study included 15 participants with various roles and statuses within the community. Among these, 10 were social workers actively involved in indigenous communities, while 5 were traditional leaders from their respective areas. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with social workers and community leaders who have experience in indigenous knowledge systems. Thematic analysis of the collected data revealed important insights into the significance of the Indigenous Knowledge System in the practice of social work. The implications of this study suggest that social work education should develop curricula that incorporate Indigenous Knowledge systems to more effectively meet the needs of Indigenous peoples and decolonize practice. The study adds to the scholarly realm by reducing the connection created between the Western system of social work and the indigenous worldview. It confronts the ideas of the prevailing Eurocentric models by stating the worth and usefulness of Indigenous knowledge in feeding more thorough, comprehensive, and successful social work practices.

Keywords: Culturally Responsive, Decolonial Practice, Indigenous Knowledge System, Indigenous People, Social Work.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Baba, Louise. “Cultural Competency Training for the Social Service Professions: A Systematic Literature Review.” Journal of Social Work Education 59,no.1(2023):45–60.

Bamblett, Muriel, Margarita Frederico, Jane Harrison, Annette Jackson, and Peter Lewis. “Not One Size Fits All”: Understanding the Social & Emotional Wellbeing of Aboriginal Children. La Trobe, 2012.

Battiste, Marie. “Indigenous Knowledge and the Politics of Education.” Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2002.

Biedarieva, Svitlana. “Anti-Colonialism vs.‘Self-Colonization.’” In Ambicoloniality and War: The Ukrainian-Russian Case, 27–61. Springer, 2025.

Brant, Corinne. “Indigenous Social Work: A New Approach to Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Awareness in Social Work Practice.” Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016.

Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3, no. 2 (January 21, 2006): 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa.

Coates, Stacey Kim, Michelle Trudgett, and Susan Page. “Indigenous Institutional Theory: A New Theoretical Framework and Methodological Tool.” The Australian Educational Researcher 50, no. 3 (July 25, 2023): 903–20. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00533-4.

Cohen‐Fournier, Sara Marie, Gregory Brass, and Laurence J. Kirmayer. “Decolonizing Health Care: Challenges of Cultural and Epistemic Pluralism in Medical Decision‐making with Indigenous Communities.” Bioethics 35, no. 8 (October 22, 2021): 767–78. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.12946.

Cordeiro-Rodrigues, Luís. “African Higher Education and Decolonizing the Teaching of Philosophy.” Educational Philosophy and Theory 54, no. 11 (2022): 1854–67.

Creswell, J. W., and C. N. Poth. Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches . SAGE Publications, 2018.

David, James Ojochenemi. “Decolonizing Climate Change Response: African Indigenous Knowledge and Sustainable Development.” Frontiers in Sociology 9 (2024): 1456871.

Dawson, Neil M., Brendan Coolsaet, Eleanor J. Sterling, Robin Loveridge, Nicole D, Gross-Camp, Supin Wongbusarakum, Kamaljit K. Sangha, et al. “The Role of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities in Effective and Equitable Conservation.” Ecology and Society 26, no. 3 (2021): art19. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-12625-260319.

Dittfeld, Tanja. “Seeing White: Turning the Postcolonial Lens on Social Work in Australia.” Social Work & Policy Studies: Social Justice, Practice and Theory 3, no. 1 (2020).

Duran, Eduardo,. “Indigenous Perspectives in Mental Health and Healing.” Journal of Native American Psychology 1, no. 1 (2016): 8–16.

Fleras, Augie. “The Politics of Indigenous Identity: A Global Perspective.” Oxford University Press: Oxford University Press, 2014.

Gatwiri, Kathomi, Lynne M McPherson, and Reshmi Lahiri-Roy. “Embedding Cultural Knowledge in Social Work Education: Reflections from Master of Social Work Students at a Regional Australian University.” The British Journal of Social Work 55, no. 1 (January 1, 2025): 161–80. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcae132.

Gómez Hernández, Esperanza, and Marisol Patiño Sánchez. “Decolonialidad En Lo Social. Apuntes Desde Trabajo Social,” 2018.

Gray, Mel, John Coates, and Michael Yellow Bird. Indigenous Social Work around the World: Towards Culturally Relevant Education and Practice. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2008.

Gray, Mel, and Jane Dalrymple. “Indigenous Social Work: A Global Perspective.” London: Routledge, 2015.

Harms Smith, Linda, and Shahana Rasool. “Deep Transformation toward Decoloniality in Social Work: Themes for Change in a Social Work Higher Education Program.” Journal of Progressive Human Services 31, no. 2 (2020): 144–64.

Horne, Rosalie. “Social Work Practice with Indigenous Communities in Canada. .” UBC Press, 2017.

Isife, Evaristus Emeka, and Arinze Agbanusi. “Decolonization of the African Mind through Indigenous Education: A Philosophical Proposal.” Nnamdi Azikiwe Journal of Philosophy 13, no. 1 (2022): 109–18.

Lalonde, Chris. “Decolonizing Social Work Practice.” Canadian Social Work Review 34, no. 1 (2017): 1–16.

Lavalley, Robert. “The Role of Indigenous Knowledge in Social Work Education: Promoting Culturally Relevant Practices.” Vancouver: : University of British Columbia Press , 2017.

Leeuw, Sarah De. Determinants of Indigenous Peoples’ Health. Canadian Scholars’ Press, 2015.

Leonardo, Zeus, Michael V Singh, and Ziza Delgado Noguera. “Education and Colonialism: Three Frameworks.” In Handbook of Critical Education Research, 103–21. Routledge, 2023.

Linton, R. The Study of Man: An Introduction. Century Social Science Series. Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1964. https://books.google.com.gh/books?id=akr9zQEACAAJ.

Mahuntse, Samuel Lisenga. “A Social Work Programme on the Contribution of Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) to Child Protection: A Tsonga Case Study.” University of Pretoria, 2021.

Majoko, Tawanda. “An Afrocentric Perspective on Inclusive Education and Ubuntu.” In Autism, 1–5. Routledge, 2023.

Mamaleka, Mmaphuti. “African Indigenous Knowledge Systems and Theories in Teaching Social Work.” In Routledge Handbook of African Social Work Education, 1:49–61. Routledge, 2024.

Maringe, Felix, Simon Vurayai, and Gloria Erima. “Decolonising African University Knowledges, Volume,” n.d.

McDougall, Cynthia, and Mani Ram Banjade. “Social Capital, Conflict, and Adaptive Collaborative Governance: Exploring the Dialectic.” Ecology and Society 20, no. 1 (2015): art44. https://doi.org/10.5751/ES-07071-200144.

McKenzie, Linda, and Susan Wendt. “Indigenous Knowledge and Social Work.” A Call for a Paradigm Shift Journal of Social Work 50, no. 2 (2019): 129–42.

Monture, Patricia. “We Are Not the Same: The Significance of Indigenous Knowledge in Social Work Education.” Indigenous Voices in Social Work 12, No.3(2017):n.d., 17–30.

Mullen, Carol A. “Pedagogies for Decolonizing Education in Theory and Practice.” In Handbook of Social Justice Interventions in Education, 11–37. Springer, 2021.

National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. “Strengthening Equitable Community Resilience: Criteria and Guiding Principles for the Implementation of the EnCoRe Framework. .” Washington, DC: The National Academies Press, 2023.

National Association of Social Workers. “Standards and Indicators for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice.” Accessed February 1, , 2025.

Ndlovu-Gatsheni, Sabelo. Epistemic Freedom in Africa: Deprovincialization and Decolonization. Routledge, 2018.

Nkosinkulu, Zingisa. “A Decolonial Curriculum Is Everything: An Afrocentric Approach.” In Research Anthology on Racial Equity, Identity, and Privilege, 567–84. IGI Global Scientific Publishing, 2022.

Obiagu, Adaobiagu N. “Toward a Decolonized Moral Education for Social Justice in Africa.” Journal of Black Studies 54, no. 3 (2023): 236–63.

Paimo, Oluwatunmise Taiwo, and Omololu Fagbadebo. “Question on Reality: Rethinking the Practice of Decolonisation in African Studies.” African Renaissance 20,no. 3 (2023): 85.

Pfefferbaum, Betty, and Rose L. Pfefferbaum. “Building Community Resilience to Disasters: A Way Forward to Enhance National Health Security.” International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 19 (2016): 102–11.

Poonwassie, Anne, and Ann Charter. “An Aboriginal Worldview of Helping: Empowering Approaches.” Canadian Journal of Counselling 31 (January 1, 2001).

Sibiya, Nomfundo Patricia, Dillip Kumar Das, Coleen Vogel, Sonwabo Perez Mazinyo, Leocadia Zhou, Mukalazi Ahmed Kalumba, Mikateko Sithole, Richard Kwame Adom, and Mulala Danny Simatele. “Overcoming Bureaucratic Resistance: An Analysis of Barriers to Climate Change Adaptation in South Africa.” Climate 11, no. 7 (July 11, 2023): 145. https://doi.org/10.3390/cli11070145.

Sinclair, Raven. “Culturally Responsive Social Work Practice: The Role of Indigenous Knowledge Systems.” Journal of Indigenous Social Work 22, no. 4 (2018): 345–62.

Smith, Linda Harms, and Motlalepule Nathane. “# NotDomestication# NotIndigenisation: Decoloniality in Social Work Education.” Southern African Journal of Social Work and Social Development 30, no. 1 (2018): 18-pages.

Smith, Linda Tuhiwai. “Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples,” 2021.

South, Jane, Jude Stansfield, Richard Amlôt, and Dale Weston. “Sustaining and Strengthening Community Resilience throughout the COVID-19 Pandemic and Beyond.” Perspectives in Public Health 140, no. 6 (2020): 305–8.

Wendt, Sarah, and Robin J. T. Fox. “Colonialism and the Role of Social Work: A Critical Perspective.” Social Work Review 46, no. 4 (2014): 45–60.

White, Robin K, Warren C Edwards, Ann Farrar, and M John Plodinec. “A Practical Approach to Building Resilience in America’s Communities.” American Behavioral Scientist 59, no. 2 (2015): 200–219.

Zhang, Yanjun, and Zhaohui Su. “Strengthening the Relationship Between Community Resilience and Health Emergency Communication: A Systematic Review.” BMC Global Public Health 4, no. 1 (2024): 12.

ABOUT AUTHOR(S)

Mr. Rakgwata Phoke Alpha holds a Bachelor of Social Work degree (Hons) and a BA Honours in Sociology from the University of Venda, in South Africa. He is a Postgraduate student at the University of Venda in the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education. His research interests cover a wide range of socially related issues, including Gender studies and community engagement. Mr Rakgwata has published two articles about Intimate partner violence in South Africa and Conflict resolution in indigenous communities, looking at it from a social work perspective.

Dr. Mmaphuti Mamaleka has been a senior lecturer in the Department of Social Work, in the Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Education (FHSSE) at the University of Venda since 2014. Previously, she worked as a supervisor with the Department of Social Development. Her teaching focus is social work supervision, management, and fieldwork practice. Her specialization field is supervision and management. Her areas of interest include parenting, gender-based violence, and Afrocentricity, particularly indigenous knowledge systems. She supervises postgraduate student research. She also coordinates the Master of Social Work (MSW) in the Department of Social Work at the University of Venda. She attended and presented, and chaired sessions at national and international conferences. She reviewed Journal articles and a book chapter for different Journals and books. She published 08 chapters, 03 articles, and one conference proceeding. She also coordinated collaborations, i.e., the University of Applied Sciences and Arts (HAWKS) in Holzminden, Germany, and the International Information and Knowledge Management (TIIKM) in Colombo, Sri Lanka. She won an excellence research award for achieving more than 1,25 units in 2019 at the University of Venda.

TO CITE ARTICLE

Rakgwata, Phoke Alpha, and Mmaphuti Mamaleka. “Incorporating Indigenous Knowledge Systems to improve culturally responsive Social Work practices.” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 7, no.4 (2026): 1000 – 1016. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2026744