What History Should Schools Teach in a Postcolonial Context?: Reimagining Secondary School History Curriculum for Democratic Practice in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This chapter explores the nexus between the history education curriculum and democratic practice in the context of the Zimbabwean postcolonial nation-state. The concern with the Zimbabwean national history curriculum arises principally because nation-states have tended to draw on the history curriculum to forge a sense of nationhood and patriotism against the backdrop of the contestations that inevitably characterize postcolonial nation-states. Zimbabwe has a national history curriculum, which has been mobilized to promote nationalist historiographies that promote the nation’s story at the expense of critical thinking and democratic practice. The argument developed is that the Zimbabwean nation-state requires a critical disciplinary school history curriculum that has potential to teach students to think historically, through engaging in historical inquiry as a way of developing the knowledge, skills, and habits of mind necessary for active, informed, and critical citizenship. Finally, suggestions are made for pedagogical strategies for engaging in critical history teaching.