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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | The Production of Historical Knowledge for Schools |
Author: | Zeleza, Tiyambe |
Year: | 1990 |
Periodical: | Transafrican Journal of History (ISSN 0251-0391) |
Volume: | 19 |
Pages: | 1-23 |
Language: | English |
Notes: | biblio. refs. |
Geographic term: | Africa |
Subjects: | textbooks historiography History and Exploration Bibliography/Research Education and Oral Traditions History, Archaeology history education |
External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/24328672 |
Abstract: | This paper analyses the production of historical knowledge for schools in Africa. It is divided into four parts. The first part involves a theoretical discussion on the production of historical knowledge. The second part examines the development of African historiography. A number of approaches, which have changed with time, are identified and analysed. The third part dwells on the historiographical limitations of existing history textbooks used in schools throughout Africa. Finally, the paper looks at the politics involved in the production of historical knowledge for schools. It is argued that scholarly research in African history at the tertiary level has reached a relatively high level of development, as reflected in UNESCO's 'General history of Africa' project. This project was launched in 1965 and the first volumes were published in 1981. But school textbooks have as yet to fully incorporate and reflect the methods, approaches and findings of modern African historiography. The factors behind this disjuncture are traced to the political and economic conjuncture in Africa, and the contradictions in the process and practices of producing historical knowledge. Bibliogr. |