Epistemic Insight Teaching Approach: An approach for preparing students in Higher Education institutions to be relevant to the community

Abstract

Future generations can be prepared to effectively respond to community and global challenges and to live sustainably.   This could be done through an epistemic insight teaching approach. This qualitative study on epistemic insight teaching approach in higher education called into play ‘Big Questions’ (Berry & LASAR, 2023) about how we understand the place and purpose of humanity in the world.   It made use of three data collections methods:  Questionnaire with open ended questions, semi-structured interviews and FGD to collect data from the 9 purposively selected student teachers.  The paper describes the perspectives and experiences of epistemic insight teaching approach among the selected student teachers who are in their first year of their four-year degree programme at the selected university in Central Zambia.  It also discusses some implications of epistemic insight teaching approach to the preparation of a future generation of teachers and individuals that is open, informed and enthusiastic about engaging in collaborations, at different levels, that seek to extend and challenge their current perspectives on life issues and community/societal problems.   While the students in this study expressed a positive perception/outlook about the teaching approach, they also shared some challenges that may have to be addressed to maximize on its potential benefits.   It is hoped that the findings of this study would stimulate discussion and inform research and teaching practice in Higher education.