Taboos and Storytelling for Teaching and Learning in Zimbabwe

Abstract

This paper explores how taboos and storytelling could be applied in the curriculum decolonization agenda of Africa through the Zimbabwe's Curriculum Framework for Primary Education adopted in 2015. The main question that underpinned the discussion was, What role could taboos and storytelling play towards a framework design for education decolonization at primary and high school levels in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa? The theories that guided the reflective analysis and arguments advanced in the paper are Postcolonial theory and Afrocentric theory because of their complementary nature for the subject matter studied. The study found that taboos have a fear-deterrence effect to teaching and learning discourse while storytelling promotes ‘peership' and social equality among the learners. The study concluded that taboos and storytelling are just a few of the many possible African indigenous knowledge resources that could be considered towards curriculum decolonization framework at primary and high school levels in the continent.