Learners’ Perceptions of Zimbabwe’s Heritage-based Advanced-level Curriculum: Gender Insights from Two Masvingo District Schools

This article explores the gendered perceptions of Zimbabwean A-Level learners regarding the country’s updated A-Level curriculum – the Heritage-Based 2024-2030 Curriculum. The curriculum review process has undergone three phases to date, namely the Zero Draft Curriculum Framework 2013-2015; the Curriculum Framework for Primary and Secondary Education 2015-2022; and the Heritage-Based Education 2024- 2030 (Mandaza and Muchengeti, 2024). Informed by James Lull’s 2011 Theory of Gendered Hegemony (Dynes, 2020), the aim of this interpretive inquiry was to uncover qualitative insights that inform educational policy and practice for enhanced gender equity in the country’s high school system. Using a comparative case of two secondary schools, two Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were conducted with 24 learners, that is, 12 from each of the two purposively selected schools of Masvingo District. For triangulation, a semi-structured qualitative interview was administered on each of 10 volunteering A-Level teachers from the participating schools. From the same two schools, the researcher also accessed class registers and records of marks for document analysis. As for the objectives, the study investigated the learners’ general perceptions of the curriculum, as well as specific viewpoints of A-Level girls and boys separately. Additionally, it explored the popularity and unpopularity of certain subjects among each gender and analysed potential factors influencing these perceptions. The findings highlight disparities in subject preferences and shed light on societal factors, media prompts and policy influences among other institutional forces shaping the learners’ educational experiences. This study recommends revising the curriculum regularly to offer a broader range of subject choices for both girls and boys; using inclusive language that represents both gender identities in the curriculum materials; providing teachers with regular training on gender sensitivity and bias reduction; as well as incorporating gender education into the curriculum to empower young people with the knowledge they need to promote gender justice.