Patterns Characterising the Teaching and Learning Practices of Religious Education in Zimbabwean Secondary Schools

Abstract

The paper examined the relevance of Religious Studies as an academic discipline in secondary schools in Zimbabwe. This was done with the intention to find different methods and approaches that can be used to promote the teaching and learning of Religious Education in secondary schools. The study employed a case study research design. The purposive sampling technique was used because of its ability to enable the researchers to select the participants that carry the desired research characteristics and attributes. Focus group discussions, interviews and content analysis were used to collect data for this paper. Seven out of fourteen secondary school heads in Warren Park district were subjected to one-on-one in-depth interview; while nine Religious Studies teachers participated in a focus group discussion. The study discovered that Religious Studies, as an academic discipline, is under threat as many children drop the subject as they enrol for form one. The majority of schools are no longer offering Religious Studies as a stand-alone subject despite it being an academic discipline in the school curricula. The subject is seen by some people as irrelevant and marginal to the day to day needs of the society despite the undisputed presence of religious phenomena in a Zimbabwean society. Where the subject is offered, it is often taken by students with learning difficulties in sciences, mathematics and commercial subjects. More so, the frequency of the subject on the school time table is less as compared to other subjects. The emphasis was on the promotion of science, commercial and technical subjects. The paper thus recommended, among other issues, an urgent revision of the closed, single minded Religious Studies curriculum which concentrates on Biblical Studies. In this century Religious Studies should be committed to the open, plural, intercultural and interdisciplinary study of religion.