Teachers’ representation of the mitigation strategies to challenges of implementing the 2015 to 2022 Zimbabwean social studies curriculum

Abstract

The impromptu launch of the 2015 to 2022 Zimbabwean social studies curriculum invited vilifications and public outcries from parents, teachers and other key stakeholders professing numerous challenges. In this article, we report on the teachers’ representation of the mitigation strategies to abate the aforesaid challenges. This interpretive case study engrained in the qualitative approach, was drawn from interviews and focus group discussion (FGD) to establish the teachers’ representation of the mitigation strategies that could be employed to curtail challenges faced in implementing that curriculum. In the study, informed by the ubuntu philosophy, we used 12 purposively sampled teachers from Zimbabwean primary schools located in different contexts to generate data. The findings show that implementers of policies are too often not consulted during the policy development process leading to challenges which could be mollified by listening to the advice from the implementers, adopting the bottom-up approach and promoting good relations among educators. Considering these findings it was concluded that, for effective policy development, there must be wide consultation and involvement of all stakeholders in the planning, designing and articulation of policies before proper implementation can take place.