Pedagogical Complexities in Multicultural History Classrooms in Botswana Senior Secondary Schools

Abstract

Botswana is a pluralistic society, yet its education system is tailored from a homogenous dimension. This paper interrogates the competence of history teachers in teaching multiculturally diverse classrooms. The study examined the challenges faced by History teachers in multiculturally diverse classrooms and the pedagogical approaches that could be used to combat that state of affairs. The study was pursued using the theoretical framework of Critical Pedagogy which ideologically advances that education within multicultural societies must be democratic and take into account social justice and diversity issues. The study implored the qualitative research methods and was pursued within 12 (N=12) senior secondary schools in 7 (N=7) educational regions in Botswana. A total of 36 (N=36) teachers and 120 (N=120) students participated in the study. The results indicate that the history teachers have no training on how to teach multiculturally diverse classrooms. Such a scenario end up frustrating both teachers and students since a lot of them end up feeling pedagogically isolated in the teaching-learning process. Therefore, there is need to rethink teacher training amongst the many factors which could help ameliorate this state of affairs.