The Use of Indigenous African Repertoires in Developing Literacy in Visual and Performing Arts Learners in Chiredzi District, Zimbabwe

Abstract

Zimbabwe’s attainment of independence in 1980 from British rule brought some hopes of a decolonised school curriculum. However, 40–five years after independence, Zimbabwe continues to have the challenge of a largely Eurocentric school curriculum. The current Visual and Performing Arts (VPA) content requires alignment to local realities so that it has relevance to the local society. This study examines the use of indigenous African music repertoires and how they enhance concept formulation among learners. Premised on the Afrocentricity theory, the paper interrogates how indigenous music heritages can be utilised to develop literacy in VPA lessons. A qualitative approach was used to carry out a case study, with twenty teachers purposively selected and ten learners who were randomly selected to make a total of 30 participants. Five schools were picked to constitute a case study in Chiredzi district owing to the fact that the grasping of teaching and learning concepts in this region, especially in the English language, remains diminished and limited. Research findings revealed that teachers faced difficulties in developing music literacy aspects such as time values, rhythm, and pitch in VPA teaching and learning. This reveals a need to decolonise the school curriculum that tends to be culturally irrelevant to the African context. To address the problem, professional development workshops should be mounted to help teachers develop effective, culturally pertinent content.