Exploring secondary school teacher’s perceptions about the post-apartheid history curriculum changes: lessons from two high schools in Cape Town
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Date
2024
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University of the Western Cape
Abstract
The implementation of democracy in South Africa necessitated a radical transformation in education. The history curriculum has long been at the centre of the debate about the nature of education in South Africa. The school subject itself, however, has been deemed to be in a dismal state with the official reason being, among other factors, the overemphasis of the socalled traditional approach in the teaching of History in the past. In fact, after the democratic transition, the History subject was gradually judged as lacking in utilitarian purpose, and by 1997, was deemed irrelevant and meaningless. There have been four curriculum changes since the introduction of democracy in South Africa in 1994 and from being deemed irrelevant, the subject is now, in the 2020s, being considered as one that might become a compulsory subject for all high school students. Yet the scholarly research undertaken to understand the implementation of History as a school subject remains largely neglected. This study therefore explores the secondary school teachers’ perceptions about the post-apartheid history curriculum changes in two high schools. This thesis argues that there is a need to enhance our understanding of how this subject is taught in the classroom-for looking beyond the literature and official narratives of history education, and trying to understand what happens to history teachers, in history classrooms.
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Keywords
Democracy, South Africa, Radical Transformation, Education, History Curriculum