Decolonisation Versus Hegemony: Making History Compulsory in Basic Education
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25159/2312-3540/2760Keywords:
decolonising, colonisation, hegemony, history, compulsory subject, colonial apartheidAbstract
This study investigates the possibility of making History a compulsory subject up to Grade 10 in South African schools. At present, History is part of the Social Sciences learning area taught from Grade 4 to Grade 9. History is not a compulsory subject from Grade 10. In a quest to promote social cohesion and unity in the South African society that was fragmented along racial and ethnic lines, the democratic government has sought to introduce History as a compulsory subject as it is seen as a tool to unite the nation and to promote decolonisation, nation-building and social cohesion. The study reported on in this article was an anti-positivist study based on a literature review. The researchers found that there was a general consensus among scholars and politicians that History should be made a compulsory subject. Yet they also found that there were those who were sceptical about its introduction as a compulsory subject for they feared the intention might be to use it as a political tool and that it might discourage those who intended studying it. Therefore, the researchers recommend that in order to pave the way for making History a compulsory subject at schools, a democratic curriculum committee should be established to design a History curriculum that accommodates all the population groups in the country. Furthermore, the public should be given the opportunity to participate by giving their input into the proposed curriculum.
Metrics
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Accepted 2018-05-09
Published 2018-08-31