2026/07/13 by Joshua Chakawa, Walter Sengai · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #African cultural and philosophical studies #African studies and sociopolitical issues #Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy
paper · doi:10.14324/herj.23.1.14
openalex publication_date 2026/07/13 · openalex created_date 2026/07/14 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/14
In tracing Zimbabwe’s history of liberation, which culminated in the independence of 1980, there are individuals, families, communities and other sections of society which are deemed to have undermined the armed struggle, whether this is real or perceived. Such people include those who joined Rhodesian Security Forces and Rhodesia’s militias, such as Security Force Auxiliaries, District Security Assistants, Guard Force and Shangaan Army. The list also encompasses Africans behind attacks on refugee and guerrilla camps in Mozambique, Zambia and Angola, anyone who sided with Rhodesians and people who got punished by guerrillas, allegedly for selling out. The article focuses on silenced politicians and their political parties who lost the 1980 elections because they take centre stage in the history which is publicly remembered and taught in schools. The main objective of this article is to explore ways in which such people are side-lined in the history of the liberation struggle through an examination of the history curriculum in Zimbabwe’s secondary schools. This contribution is useful in widening the understanding of how history is taught, preserved and written after a protracted armed conflict where there are outright winners and grieving losers. Given that Zimbabwe underwent a massive curriculum change in 2015, this article widens knowledge horizons on what school history is needed to allow a multiplicity of voices so as to promote critical thinking among learners. Information was primarily obtained from interviews with secondary school teachers and other informants in Zimbabwe and a reappraisal of both primary and secondary sources. With researchers having been secondary school history teachers at some point, lived experiences were deployed to shed more light on what goes on in the history classroom. The most important finding is that the teaching of Zimbabwean history in particular remains patriotic and celebratory with little space for dissenting voices.