The ManicaPost
Freedom Mutanda
IT is the time of the year again when students burn the midnight oil in an attempt to score highly in their ‘O’ Level examinations. Today, I want to highlight areas in History that need attention since I have been teaching the subject for the past 23 years. I am not saying I know everything there is to know about History, but it is abundantly clear that the subject needs analysis if one is going to ace it.
Syllabus interpretation by teachers of History is of utmost importance. Our 2167 syllabus is clear on the aims in as far as analysis is concerned. As History teachers, we are preparing our students to be the future lawyers, policy analysts and any other profession that demands a high degree of critical thinking, creativity and evaluation skills. As a result, from Form One, these skills have to be developed so that come November at ‘O’ Level, the student will use those learned skills to produce a very good response.
Part ‘A’ of the question demands the simple skill of recall. For example, list any six responsibilities of a Rozvi ruler. The question demands a simple answer which must not take a student much time to write a response. S/he lists those responsibilities without writing an essay. The answers could be-he distributed land; he was the commander-in-chief of the army; he was the chief judicial leader; he oversaw rain-making ceremonies; he declared war; he distributed tribute among many other duties. The answers can come in any order.
Recall demands a good understanding of the subject matter. However, at times, one may have no answers for Part A, but one is comfortable with part ‘A’ and ‘C’. In that situation, do not lose hope. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
Part ‘B’ is narrative. Normally, the questioning technique centres on outline and describe.
Students have to write an essay where they hammer on the points learnt over the course of their ‘O’ Level. To illustrate, outline the freedom fighters’ activities in Zimbabwe from 1972 to 1979. It is a straight forward question where the examiner wants to see whether you can pinpoint the actual activities of the freedom fighters. It would entail writing about the spark to the decisive phase of the armed struggle up to the ceasefire agreement cobbled up at Lancaster House in Britain.
Similar questions include-describe Rhodesian response to the armed struggle between 1972 and 1979. In other words, what did Ian Smith and his acolytes do to stem the tide of the war of resistance.
It could mean the establishment of protected villages, curfews, cross border raids, the use of the convoy system, spying on nationalists, detentions of leaders, divide and rule tactics, the internal settlement and many other aspects of Rhodesian attempts to derail the armed struggle.
Part ‘B’ is largely narrative, but as you do that, bear in mind that lucidity of language is not very important but you should give points. Language mastery comes in later and the facts must speak for themselves.
This week, because we don’t have much time, we concentrate on Paper 1 which is the History of Southern Africa.
We know that question two is on the transition from the late Stone Age to the early Iron Age, the Great Zimbabwe or the Mutapa state. Now, why would a student fail to grasp the concepts on state formation that would make her answer questions on the Rozvi, Zulu state and Nguni incursions that would lead her to respond to the Gaza, Ndebele and Kololo states? One can deduce that by the time a student reaches question 9, she would have reached the four questions that she wants to write about.
Out of 22 questions, a student must attempt four questions.
Portuguese activities in The Mutapa is another area that is studied. What did the Portuguese do in terms of economics, social and political aspects? Students need to be well versed in that area as well.
The way the syllabus is structured is in such a manner that every topic is examined on; thus, one can do well if s/he masters a minimum of ten topics. The onus is on the teacher to guide students in understanding the topics that are within the level of her students. Of importance, is the question that looks at current affairs. It is normally found between questions 17 and 22. This is an area where reading of newspapers and making use of the electronic media carry the day.
Encourage your students as a teacher to read and listen around and they would not find it difficult to respond to the current affairs question. For instance, describe the social and political problems that faced Zimbabwe between 1990 and 2000. This is a classical current affairs question and there could be a link between the question and some World War 1 effects. History is a demanding subject that doesn’t forgive lazy people who do not read. It requires constant reading and opening the mind to other vistas of life.
Part ‘C’ is mainly on analysis and it is marked out of eight. Students are reminded to look at the question from more than one angle and then they pass judgment. You won’t add anything but you look at one side and then the other side. You should be able to reach value judgment.
One may respond to a question-to what extent did the political organization in the Great Zimbabwe State lead to the collapse of the state? Such a question demands the candidate to look at the contribution of politics in the decay and final demise of the state.
Having done that, the candidate has to look at other variables such as economic turmoil and shortages of basic things. After that, the candidate must reach what we call value judgment. Was it political decay or other variables that caused the collapse of the Great Zimbabwe state? She uses ‘to a lesser or larger extent’ in her closing argument.
Part C requires a high degree of critical thinking and that is shown by one’s ability to reach a conclusion based on proffered points.
Next week, we attempt to give candidates an insight into International Affairs which is commonly called 2167/2.
