History curruculum decolonisation: perspectives of history teachers from the Frances Baard District

Abstract

The decolonisation of education in South Africa has been a subject of controversy in recent years. One such controversy is whether there is a need for a total curriculum overhaul that eradicates the prevalent Western perspectives in the current school history curriculum. Through the lens of Asante's theory of Afrocentrism, this research was conducted to explore the perspectives of teachers of History in the Frances Baard District on the decolonisation of the History curriculum in the Further Education and Training (FET) band. In view of the nature of exploring teachers’ perspectives, this study adopted the qualitative research method using semi-structured interviews. The study was framed within an interpretive paradigm compatible with the qualitative approach. After extensive engagement with participants, findings suggest that the current History curriculum is still centred on Europe and should be decolonised. It also emerged that teachers recognised that the process of decolonisation needs widespread participation from society at large. Recommendations stemming from this study propose a school History curriculum decolonisation. Furthermore, recommendations also suggest the inclusion of a variety of stakeholders in the review of the current History curriculum.