Curriculum change and teachers’ representations of challenges: the case of the social studies curriculum in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This article investigates the origin of challenges teachers faced in implementing the new Zimbabwean 2015–2022 social studies curriculum, tapping insights from the Ubuntu philosophy. The research, cast as an interpretive case study engrained in the qualitative paradigm, made use of semi-structured interviews, Focus Group Discussion (FGD) and observations to elicit data from 12 purposively sampled teachers drawn from urban, growth point, rural, boarding, farm and mission primary schools in Zimbabwe. It emerged that teachers faced trenchant challenges which manifested because of the way the curriculum was cascaded: non-Africanisation of social studies content and poor relations among implementers. The study elucidates the need for educational changes to be located within the context of the community in which it exists, wherein teachers’ voices are heard. It recommends the employment of a society-driven approach in curriculum design and development, the engagement of teachers as curriculum developers and the seeding of human relations in schools to better educational policies and practices.