The Promotion of Unhu/Ubuntu/Vumunhu through the Teaching of Heritage Education in ECD Classrooms of Zimbabwe

Globally, heritage education is seen as a model which can be implemented to provide a holistic education that incorporates spiritual, cultural, and moral values to all citizens. In Zimbabwe, the education is underpinned by a philosophy of unhu/ubuntu/vumunhu which nurtures humanness, human interdependence and the sense of community in learners. In addition, early childhood proponents underscore the teaching of socio-cultural knowledge to young children during their early stages of learning. The newly introduced Zimbabwe Curriculum Framework for Primary and Secondary Education (2015-2022) includes family and heritage studies as one of the curriculum areas to be taught from early childhood development (ECD) to tertiary level. The framework emphasises continuous development of unhu/ubuntu/vumunhu from ECD to the point of exiting secondary education. Against this background, the study examined how teachers are instilling unhu/ubuntu/vumunhu values in ECD learners through heritage education. The study further explored the alignment of the curriculum demands to ECD teachers’ practices in teaching heritage studies. An explorative qualitative case study informed by the socio-constructivism was adopted. Data was gathered from three teachers through semi-structured interviews and analysis of teacher artifacts. The study revealed that there is a gap between the curriculum demands and teachers’ classroom practices on the teaching of unhu/ubuntu/vumunhu culture at early childhood development. Teachers lack adequate content knowledge on heritage education and continue to use traditional methods of teaching in ECD. The paper concludes by suggesting a culturally-based model of classroom practice that is oriented towards inculcating unhu values in learners.