Curriculum Reform: The Exclusive Advanced Level Divinity vis-a-vis the Inclusive Updated Family and Religious Studies

Abstract

This paper is a phenomenological discourse on the teaching and learning of Family and Religious studies at Advanced Level. It unravels the ontological turn of the teaching and learning of Family and Religious Studies (FRS) at Advanced Level. The recommendations of the 1999 Presidential commission of inquiry into education and training (CIET) called for the reorientation and reorganization of the syllabi content, aims and pedagogical teachings. The thrust of the recommendations was on the introduction of a multi-cultural approach to the teaching of religious studies in schools. This paper is a comparative analysis of the erstwhile exclusive Divinity syllabus aims, objectives, content and teaching methods vis-a-vis the updated multi-faith Family and Religious Syllabus. This comparative analysis helps to identify the shortcomings of the exclusive curriculum and then the reasons why adoption of multiculturalism was long overdue. It is important to note that the subject has a new title, the first time that it has taken a homogeneous title from form one up-to Advanced Level. Various stakeholders were consulted on the ‘inclusive’ updated 2017-2022 broader curriculum. However, focus of the consultations was on multi-cultural Family and Religious Studies curriculum. The qualitative approach was used in the analysis of data. The research was carried out from March 2017 up to September 2017. As a result, six high schools (church and government run schools) from the Harare Metropolitan Province were randomly sampled; one hundred and fifty religious education learners, twenty parents and twenty teachers (inclusive of five retired Divinity teachers interviewed) were given questionnaires. The six school heads, parents, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Scripture Union personnel, retired Religious Education teachers and one FRS curriculum developer were interviewed. The study revealed that stakeholders with a Christian background were against the multi-faith curriculum particularly its inclusion of Islam and African indigenous religion. The inclusion of the two religions is metaphorically and negatively perceived as elephants in the living room. The paper recommends wider awareness on the significance of a multi-cultural study of Family and Religious studies.