Abstract
This study examines scholarship in the field of Curriculum Studies in Zimbabwe based of
traditional, reconceptualist and internationalisation theories. An Interpretive
phenomenological approach was employed to explore how Zimbabwean researchers
explained and reflected on their scholarship. A postcolonial theoretical framework was used
as a lens to establish whether or not the type of scholarship was a product of third spaces
wherein boundaries for knowledge production were blurred and hybrid knowledge generated.
To collect data, published research work in two Zimbabwean education journals and an
online journal were studied to identify the genres in curriculum scholarship, the discourses
embraced and/or marginalised and how, in general, the scholarship could be positioned
within the broader field of Curriculum Studies. Purposive and convenient sampling was used
to select 18 authors who participated in open-ended, voice-recorded interviews in which they
reflected and accounted for their scholarship. The data was analysed through content analysis
and discourse analysis, revealing that the traditional approach to theorising proffered by Tyler
(1949) is still dominant despite developments in the field of Curriculum Studies. Existing
curriculum scholarship focuses mainly on school subjects, gender, environment, citizenship
and inclusivity in education. However, studies on the political nature of the curriculum are
overlooked. Authors seem to avoid factors that could be construed as undermining the
political establishment. This explains the focus on curriculum development and focus on
ways in which curriculum practice could be improved in the different levels of schooling.
Only isolated cases of collaborative work conducted by, for example, students and their
supervisors in universities outside the country, employ a critical stance. The study concludes
that curriculum scholarship is still in its formative stages in Zimbabwe. Existing scholarship
does not have a clear focus that can be drawn on to define the field. The internationalisation
of curriculum studies has not fully taken off with implications for the advancement of the
field and the quality of curriculum work within the school system.
D.Phil. (Curriculum Studies)