A Vision of the Past and Present; a Case Study for Initiation Schooling among the Lemba in Mberengwa District Zimbabwe

Peggy Doris Fungai Siyakwazi^1, and Ben John Siyakwazi²

¹School of Education, Durban University of Technology, Pietermaritzburg, South Africa

²Department of Educational Foundations, Great Zimbabwe University, Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Cite this paper:
Peggy Doris Fungai Siyakwazi and Ben John Siyakwazi. A Vision of the Past and Present; a Case Study for Initiation Schooling among the Lemba in Mberengwa District Zimbabwe. American Journal of Educational Research. 2015; 3(2):220-224. doi: 10.12691/education-3-2-16

Abstract

This study examines a vision of the past to the present in schooling through the eyes of the Lemba people in Zimbabwe. The authors argue and puncture the myth that there was no schooling before the coming of the whites in colonial Zimbabwe. A Case Study of the Lemba in Mberengwa is used. The focus is on the Lemba initiation schooling for boys. The curriculum included the goals, content, methodology, circumcision and graduation. An historical method is used through interviews and a critical examination of oral literature on colonial schooling to the present. The authors grew up among the Lemba people and are therefore able to bring their own intimate knowledge of Lemba tradition to bear on the study. Their experiences, observations and interaction with the people in Mberengwa is an added advantage in the investigation and analysis of this project. It is hoped that new insights would contribute towards the largely untapped wealth of indigenous knowledge and how these findings could be adapted to Zimbabwean context.

Keywords:
schooling initiation Lemba circumcision

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