Post-colonial theory in Zimbabwe’s education system: Headmasters’ views

Abstract

Zimbabwe as an independent state continue to use, thereby perpetuate colonial systems especially in education where the government controls the formulation of policies. The study seeks to examine and understand the extent of the influence of colonial legacies in education from the headmasters’ viewpoints. The findings from the study put it clear that colonial legacies continue to influence policy. If there is a change, it is only in name as the implementation, methods, and results are the same as those previously used in colonial periods. There is, however, a gap in the discussion as for whether the continued use of colonial systems in independent Zimbabwe is of benefit to the country or to people as individuals. It is the recommendation of this study to empower teachers to become transformational leaders and agents of development through a combination of local systems as well as foreign ones to produce a hybrid system. Examination and understanding of the science behind post-colonial theory is significant in the adoption of policies to run the education sector thus this research offers an alternative way of looking at the post-colonial theory in the eyes of the administrators.