The state of the field of curriculum studies in Zimbabwe: perspectives of researchers

ABSTRACT

The paper reports on a study that was conducted to explain the state of Curriculum Studies in Zimbabwe from 2004 to 2014. Data were collected from 51 articles published in three local education journals and semi-structured interviews with 18 authors selected through convenient, purposive and stratified sampling, across three academic staff categories of professor, senior lecturer and lecturer. Issues focused on in the articles, the manner in which they are discussed and the authors’ views on these aspects were studied. The concept of knowledge democracy was employed to explore how the articles contributed to the field of Curriculum Studies. The findings highlight how authors attempted to strike a balance between the use of international theories and local discourses. We argue that the perspectives used by the authors should be understood as being both survivalist and tactical. Significant shifts from, for example, Western theories and discourses mainly indicated the influence of the post-independence politics and educational ideals within Zimbabwe. The paper concludes that writing about indigenous knowledge, alongside other contextual and cultural issues points to possibilities for the realisation of knowledge democracy in the field of Curriculum Studies.

KEYWORDS:

• Zimbabwe
• curriculum
• knowledge democracy

Disclosure statement

This study is our own original work. Ethical clearance granted by the University of Johannesburg. Ethics certificate number 2016-023.

Data availability statement

The data that supported this study are available from the corresponding author upon request. Data were extracted from my PhD thesis entitled Curriculum theorising in Zimbabwe: Postcolonial perspectivesthesis available from https:1library.net.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Hedwick Chigwida

Hedwick Chigwida graduated with a PhD from the University of Johannesburg. She has taught in high schools, teacher education colleges and at a university in Zimbabwe, He research interests are in curriculum theory and practice, internationalization of higher education curriculum and social justice education.

Maropeng Modiba

Maropeng Modiba is professor of Education and Curriculum at the University of Johannesburg. She has lectured in higher education for many years. Her research interests are in teacher professionalism and practice, curriculum literacy, education and culture. She has published widely on curriculum issues in South Africa and other countries including Zimbabwe, Swaziland and Kenya. Currently she is the vice president of the International Council on Education for Teaching (ICET).