Teaching the genocide against the Tutsi and its implications for peace education

Abstract

With the inception of a competence-based curriculum in 2015, genocide and peace education were introduced in the Rwandan education system as crosscutting issues to promote harmonious lives. This paper reports the empirical research conducted with twelve Rwandan secondary school history teachers in four provinces plus the City of Kigali to examine how the dichotomy of teaching death, namely the Genocide against the Tutsi, contributes to peace education. This ‘narrative phenomenology’ employed a qualitative approach based on semi-structured interviews, self-interviews, and photo-elicitation to collect the data. The study findings reveal that contents and teaching methods used to teach the Genocide, instead of dividing Rwandans, implicitly and explicitly contribute to peace education. Most teachers also use indoctrination and adopt a self-care attitude for building a better Rwanda. This strategy can inhibit critical thinking skills which is essential for promoting a peaceful society. Thus, the paper calls for a synergy between partners to continuously support teachers to take on skills to teach sensitive histories for a better Rwan