An Afrophilic P4C intervention: The case of Sebakwe primary schools in Zimbabwe

Decades of research and practical engagement with an educational approach known as Philosophy for Children (P4C) has documented and exemplified how the approach provides an optimum environment for the advancement of children’s rationality in diversity, critical reflexive thinking, and problem-solving skills. While this is certainly important, there is still a need to expand insights into how curriculum reform and transformation in Zimbabwe emerge from Afrophilic P4C learning processes. Drawing on insights from my involvement in a formative intervention study in a Sebakwe schools cluster, the paper provides descriptions and practical insights on how children’s participation in a sociocultural approach to Afrophilic P4C sessions contributed to educational theory and practice The results showed that this formative intervention strengthens connections to children’s lifeworlds and their engagement with the world. Moreover, in an education system with a pedagogy that is transfixed on technical disciplines of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) and success in examination, the experiences and practices of children need to become alternative lenses for mediating epistemic engagement and developing a critical generative approach that considers heritage-based curriculum foundations in the Zimbabwe national schools’ curriculum.