History teachers urged to write our own history

12 Jul, 2019 - 00:07 0 Views

The ManicaPost

Freedom Mutanda Post Correspondent
History has always been a fascinating field of study since time immemorial and from June 20-22 2019, history teachers in Zimbabwe congregated at Midlands State University for their annual conference and speaker after speaker delved into various issues pertaining to making history study interesting and producing the desired results in the era of the updated curriculum.

Mr Manners Msongelwa, the president of History Teachers’ Association of Zimbabwe (HITOZA) said 300 teachers of history from the length and breadth of Zimbabwe attended the second conference to be held in the age of the new curriculum which emphasises on skills than just bookish knowledge. He said the teachers came out of the symposium richer.

Nyanga’sTroutbeck Inn hosted the inaugural HITOZA conference in March 2018.

He said, “I salute the heads and teachers who braved the financial weather which is inhospitable and came to grace the occasion and it was a great pleasure to see how cross pollination of ideas can have a huge impact as the plenary sessions went on.’’

Sir Seretse Khama, the Botswana president said Africans should write their own history books. He went on to say a nation without a history is a lost nation and a people without a past are a people without a soul. Mr Wilson Buruwayo, one of the organisers said it is imperative for history teachers to inculcate historical consciousness in their students for them to have critical thinking skills.

He said, ‘‘historical awareness is the ability to link a specific piece of historical information to some well-known basic event and phenomena.’’ For years, archaeologists and historians with western tinted eyes said the Great Zimbabwe was built by non-indigenous people and it took the historically conscious historians to de-construct historical facts and reach a conclusion that it was the local people who were the brains behind the building of several ‘‘svingos’’ in and around Zimbabwe.

However, it is that historical consciousness that drove several authentic historians to research on supposedly contentious issues related to the history of Zimbabwe. It should be remembered that oral tradition doesn’t shy away from suggesting that there were many developments courtesy of the Shona ancestors whose strong belief in Mwari can’t be disputed; regrettably, white missionaries couldn’t stomach a people who worshipped God through other means which wasn’t Jesus Christ and thus they were called heathens.

Mr Sifelani Tonje, a Chiuwe High School teacher, said Steve Biko was spot on when he enunciated the Black Consciousness philosophy. It is the South African student leader who inspired the Soweto Uprisings which culminated in the world taking intimate notice of the evil nature of apartheid and bit by bit the wheels of apartheid were removed until 1994 saw the birth of the ‘‘rainbow’’ nation.

He said, ‘‘Black Consciousness takes cognisance of the deliberatedness of God’s plan in creating black people black.’’ In a world where race riots plague the so-called civilised nations and the powers that be in those countries turn the other side and some perpetrators get away scot free because they have bottomless pits of money which can hire top notch lawyers, historians cannot afford to stop writing about what is happening which has a bearing on the future.

Undoubtedly, historical consciousness is an interaction between making sense of the past and constructing expectations for the future. Of late, resource nationalism has been taking centre stage in Africa; Mr Julius Malema, the EFF (Economic Freedom Fighters) leader in South Africa has been the butt of bad jokes because of his stance for the economic emancipation of Africans and taking the white employers to task on the way they treat their employees.

Mr Joseph Simoyi, the HITOZA secretary general, told the delegates that the new curriculum has cross cutting themes which teachers of history must always take note when they are scheming and planning for them to deliver effective lessons and their students would wait for the history lesson with bated breaths.

‘‘It is important to remember the cross cutting issues which have been one of the shining innovations brought about by the new curriculum. These are: environmental issues, financial literacy, health education, heritage studies, gender, rights and responsibilities and HIV AIDS. A history textbook worth its salt should ensure that those issues are well captured in his or her book,’’ he said.

All history teachers gathered were urged to write books as in every nook of the country history is being made and they owe it to the future generations to write about what is happening today and yesterday. Capturing the history of Zimbabwe since independence is an activity which should reap rich rewards for the writer notwithstanding the current repressed writing environment.

There are baselines for writing a book. Mr Simoyi said one must have a checklist of expectations when writing a book. For example, is the language in the book appropriate for the learners? Are there pictures in the textbook which enable better understanding of the concepts in a particular topic? Have you used the pupil centred approach? What about the activities in the book? Are they stimulating and allow critical thinking to be aroused among the students?

Above all, the book should promote the Zimbabwe philosophy of education. Ubuntu is the overriding philosophy in all learning areas and depicts the way of life the nation endeavours to reach. Finally, the book should ensure gender balance as the 21st century learner must of necessity be gender blind. In his opening address, the Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Professor Paul Mavhima, said Zimbabwe yearned for a citizen based education and competence based 21st century learning.

In a speech, read on his behalf, he said: ‘‘we need a holistic education to produce a balanced citizen, a full citizen of a global village. That education should make people live together and understand different cultures and spiritual values. The history teacher cannot be left out of that equation.’’ The specialist Curriculum Development and Technical Services was ably represented by Mrs  Vimbai Msengezi Mashango.

‘‘Learner centred and hands on approaches are a boon to students. Inquiry based and problem solving methodologies attract the attention of learners. Consequently, teachers act as co-explorers and facilitators in knowledge discovery,’’ Mrs Mashango said.

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