A socio-religious hybridity strategy to respond to the problems of religious studies in Zimbabwe

English: The aim of the study was to design a socio-religious hybridity strategy that attempts to respond to the problems of Religious Studies in Zimbabwean secondary schools. The strategy emerged against the background of several challenges with the current multifaith approach to Religious Studies, which excludes other local religions from the curriculum. The curriculum is largely Christocentric, implying that the Christian religion is extensively covered. The aims of the syllabus seem to indicate that there is a need to teach various religions, but the content of the syllabus does not give space to other religions. This creates a monothelic curriculum that ignores the fact that some of the children have a religious orientation that may not necessarily be Christian. Secondly, the Religious Studies curriculum is not socially responsive to arm learners with knowledge on how to avert religious abuse, which is becoming rampant in Zimbabwean society. Religious Studies is failing to respond to religious abuse. The other challenge is that the indigenous knowledge system is not adequately covered, although it is important for the survival of the local people. The syllabus is silent on the indigenous knowledge system. However, the national examination system gives learners questions relating to indigenous knowledge, with a low mark allocation compared to the mark for Biblical question. This gives learners and teachers the perception that indigenous knowledge is unimportant for their survival. The other significant challenge is that the majority of the Religious Studies teachers in Matabeleland North are not trained to teach the subject, neither are they adequately prepared to teach other religions apart from the Christian faith. In response to these and other problems, this research study proposes a socioreligious hybridity strategy that will ensure a relevant curriculum that addresses the religious needs of all learners through a hybridity approach. The strategy seeks to ensure that Religious Studies is in line with democratic practices such as social justice, equity, recognition, inclusivity and improvement of human conditions. It will go a long way to contributing towards the peaceful co-existence of various religious groups and consequently improving the lives of people through the study of religion. The study is grounded on critical emancipatory research, a theoretical framework that dates back to the Frankfurt School of 1923. It has five working principles: the improvement of the human condition, elimination of false consciousness, social transformation, social justice and emancipation. These principles underpinned the study and they become lenses through which to interrogate Religious Studies in Zimbabwean schools. To complement the framework, I used participatory action research to generate data with the coresearchers. Participatory action research was chosen for its emancipatory tendencies and because it seeks to work with disadvantaged members of the community. The approach values its coresearchers as equal partners and believes that the people with the problems are the ones with sustainable solutions. In the study, I worked with a hybridity team consisting of representatives of various religious groups, such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, African religion, together with local leaders, Religious Studies teachers and learners in Matabeleland North. The hybridity team’s shared vision was to develop a strategy that responds to the challenges of Religious Studies in Zimbabwean schools. The team participated in discussions, workshops, and class observations and the focus was to generate data that responded to the objectives of the study. The generated data was subjected to critical discourse analysis, chosen because of its focus on power relations, which are often problematic in the religious environment. Critical discourse analysis complements critical emancipatory research and participatory action research in the fight for the marginalised members of the community. Data was analysed through three lenses, namely the textual, discursive and social practice level. The findings of the research were used to formulate a socio-religious hybridity strategy. I have found that the hybridity of religions is a desirable way to improve the teaching and learning of Religious Studies. Owing to their lack of comprehensive religious knowledge and prejudice, people tend to be afraid to engage other religions. It further emerged that recognising other religions as valid goes a long way to promote a culture of peace in society, reducing the tendency of people using violence to express their feelings. The study revealed that religious extremists are often the perpetrators of human abuse. Hence, people need to moderate their beliefs to achieve social justice and recognise the good in other religions.Based on the generated data, I formulated a strategy that responds to the challenges of Religious Studies to foster curriculum relevance for the learners. The limitation of the strategy is that it does not address ways in which extremists can be engaged to moderate their religious views, especially those that violate human rights, such as terrorism. My hope is that other researchers will explore this weakness to improve Religious Studies in Zimbabwean schools. I recommend the use of this strategy in the quest for curriculum relevance in Zimbabwean schools and elsewhere.