A Requiem Too Soon or a Landing Strand Too Far? Teacher-centred Pedagogy Versus Teaching for Critical Thinking in the Zimbabwe Curriculum Framework 2015-2022

Abstract

The expectation to teach for critical thinking has been a common exhortation in most educational systems undergoing curriculum reform. The Zimbabwe Curriculum Framework 2015-2022 is no exception as it is replete with the invocation to teach for critical thinking. The present research investigated how some forty-five (45) middle level secondary school geography teachers rated their classroom practices vis-à-vis the need to teach for critical thinking encased in the Zimbabwe Curriculum Framework 2015-2022 reform which was still in its nascent stages of implementation having gone to scale in early 2017. An adapted Teaching for Critical Thinking Questionnaire focusing on critical thinking behaviours or practices was used to gauge teachers’ rating of their classroom teaching. The SPSS software (version 21) was used to analyse questionnaire entries where the average for those claiming to; nearly always engage, frequently engage and sometimes engage in teaching for critical thinking behaviours or practices was eighty-nine percent (89%). This contrasts with 11% who indicated that they rarely or never engaged in critical thinking practices as part of their teaching. In addition, a t-test for independent samples indicated that the behaviours which teachers engaged in are independent of gender leading to the conclusion that both male and female teachers teach in broadly the same manner. Teachers claim to teach for critical thinking. Thus, based on these questionnaire survey findings, albeit limited, there may be cause to celebrate the demise of teacher dominated pedagogy in preference for a pedagogy promoting critical thinking and its accompanying bedfellow the learner-centred approach. These findings represent a promising beachhead for the ZCF 2015-2022 quest for teaching for critical thinking in the Zimbabwean education system. However, further research using a large study sample, focusing on other learning areas and utilising qualitative research methods such observation and in-depth interviews over a longer period, are needed, lest, as conveyed by the title of this article, we celebrate the demise of teacher dominated pedagogy too early whilst the advent of teaching for critical thinking and learner-centred pedagogy is still to get a sure mooring.