DISCUSSION OF FINDINGS 5.1 Introduction
5.3 The nature of heritage
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twentieth century. Prior to this period, heritage was understood entirely from a cultural perspective, and the emphasis was on the physical/tangible heritage of cultural value such as historical monuments and buildings. As per the analysis, natural heritage is largely underrepresented in the textbooks. The nature of its representation suggests that it is not a priority for learners at Grade 10 level. However, this is not to say there is a complete disregard for natural heritage in the textbooks. For instance, Making history.
Grade 10. Learner’s book mentions the following natural heritage resources: Ncome River; Table Mountain; Zimbabwe Plateau; Orange and Vaal Rivers; and the Tsholofelo Park (Dugmore et al., 2005, pp. 236/239/234/239/241/242) respectively. Shuters history. Grade 10. Learner’s book on its part refers to the Limpopo River and the Hungwe (a Shona word for rainbird) (Dlamini et al., 2005, p. 318). While, in In Search of history. Grade 10, there is the lexical use of the Limpopo and Zambezi Rivers (Bottaro et al., 2005, p. 220).
The examples cited above are evidently resources from the natural heritage category.
However, the context in which these resources are used in the textbooks do not seem to project their qualities of natural heritage but rather they are used either in support of a different indicator of heritage that is fore grounded by the textbook or simply as an attempt to elaborate further on an assertion. In the examples above, the Ncome River is only used as an illustration of the battle of Blood River while the soap stone birds are assigned to highlight the link between the symbols of the Ancient Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe and the new state of Zimbabwe. None is included with the intention of promoting their natural heritage potential. This applies to the other natural heritage resources recorded in the textbooks. Therefore I draw the conclusion from the analysis that natural heritage as a benchmark of heritage is not represented in the textbooks and is not a conceptual priority for Grade 10 history learners according to the producers of these books.
The lack of natural heritage representation comes despite the significance placed on this by the government through relevant policy documents such as the constitution and the NCS. Consequently, the NCS-History for Grade 10, states in its learning outcome 4 that the aim is to “engage learners critically with issues of heritage, public representations of the past and the conservation of heritage. Learners will also be
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expected to engage with issues around knowledge systems, including indigenous knowledge systems” (DoE, 2003, p. 14). Even though natural heritage is clearly not stipulated as one of the aims of the document, it can be understood that it is implicitly stated especially with the inclusion of the clause on ‘conservation’. In this regard, the textbooks seem to have failed in transmitting one of the requirements of the NCS- History.
On a similar note, the Constitution of South Africa, which informs the NCS, also has a clause that relates to the protection and promotion of natural heritage. Chapter 1, section 24, state in sub section ‘a’ and ‘b’ that everyone has the right “to an environment that is not harmful to their health or wellbeing; and “to have the environment protected for the benefit of present and future generations” (Republic of South Africa – constitutional law, 1996, pp. 1251-1253). Considering that the environment forms part of the natural inheritance, it is evident that the constitutional clause cited above seeks to protect and promote natural heritage.
Therefore the importance of natural heritage is clearly evident in the fact that it is used as provisions of both NCS-History and the constitution. Ironically, the textbooks that have been described in the literature as pedagogic tools aimed at carrying the aspirations of the policy into the classrooms are clearly not foregrounding natural heritage based on the findings from this study. This implies a lack of communication between the requirements of official policy on heritage and its practical implementation on the ground with specific reference to issues of natural heritage in history education.
The second heritage category is that of cultural heritage. According to the literature, two approaches were advanced to understand cultural heritage. The first view from the Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage – UNESCO (1972), described cultural heritage in the form of monuments, groups of buildings or sites (tangible resources) that are of outstanding value whether from a historical, aesthetic, ethnological and even anthropological point of view. The second dimension augments the above by describing heritage to include oral traditions, memories, languages, performing arts or rituals, knowledge systems and values and knowledge (intangible resources) that a family or society want to safe guard and preserve for future generations (Dondolo, Mrubata and Prosalindis, 2002). This second
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dimension has also been referred to as living heritage (Bredekamp, 2004). These two broad dimensions of heritage formed the bases of the conceptual framework of heritage in this study (holistic heritage) that I engaged with to produce the cultural heritage indicators for the analytical framework.
Subsequently, it should be remembered that of the three forms of cultural heritage employed for analysis, symbolic-identity heritage was evidently the most dominant. This was observed through the use of lexicons related to symbolic names of people of the past, of places, of objects, as well as of events of the past. All three textbooks invested much effort in portraying and promoting certain identities through their emphasis on certain symbolic icons. Usually the heritage presented centred on heroes or great figures that contributed to nation building. For example, symbolism and identity is depicted in In search of history. Grade 10. Learner’s book through the following lexical examples: Shaka and Toussaint l’ouverture as symbols of resistance against oppression and quest for identity; Great Zimbabwe as a reflection of the identity of the Zimbabwe people; Saartjie Baartman as a symbol of bravery, courage, and man’s inhumanity to man but also a reflection of the plight of the Khoisan people.
A similar rhetoric of symbolic-identity heritage can be noticed in the other two textbooks.
For instance, in dealing with public holidays as heritage, Making history. Grade 10.
Learner’s book focuses on certain symbolic individuals and their contributions to these public holidays. Some of these individuals include: Christopher Columbus and Presidents Roosevelt and Johnson of the USA, regarding Columbus Day; Van Riebeeck and Cecil Rhodes for van Riebeeck Day; and Dingane, Piet Retief, Mpande and Pretorius with regards to the Day of Reconciliation. All the above personalities are doubtless symbolic icons considering their different roles in defining identity for their respective people through activities that culminated in the declaration of the public holidays linked to their names.
Moreover, the representation of symbolic-identity heritage as a form of cultural heritage in the textbooks also exposed the complexities of certain discourses related to issues of race, gender, as well as ‘big/famous and small or less important people’. For example, all three textbooks depict icons such as Christopher Columbus and Van Riebeeck as famous individuals through activities linked to them. While on the other hand, Saartjie
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Baartman, El Negro, the Arawak and Khoisan people are represented as less important or ‘small people’ in society as seen in their roles in the ‘display of humans’. Therefore these are other aspects of symbolism and identity that are addressed in the textbooks under heritage.
Other aspects of cultural heritage such as scientific-technological heritage and ethnological heritage are minimally represented but not completely absent. The point is made that these indicators are usually only aimed at emphasising symbolism and identity. To conclude, in terms of cultural heritage, the focus of the selected textbooks is largely on symbolism and identity.
Symbolism and identity therefore are concerned with the quest and desire to promote citizenship, nation building, unity and patriotism, especially in the context of post-conflict societies. This is because this form of heritage emphasises the role played by specific individuals in nation building and also on certain activities and events that have contributed to a nation’s current status. On the other hand, this form of heritage also embraces the responsibility of society for the plight of the less powerful and the voiceless with regards to gender and race within society. Therefore the reason these textbooks portray heritage in this way is because of the present day need in a post- conflict society to cherish and preserve these symbolic heritage icons as a sign of love and respect for the nation. In this regard, the quest for nation building and citizenship through the representation of symbolic-identity heritage in history textbooks could be regarded as part of a political agenda in the context of South Africa as a post-conflict society.
The literature confirms this link between symbolic-identity heritage, nation building and citizenship, through the works of Van de Kaaij (2004) and Wilhelm (2004) who contend that there is a strong affinity between heritage education and certain contemporary issues such as citizenship and democracy. This concurs with Van Wijk’s (no date) hypothesis that after the Second World War, as a post-conflict society it was necessary for people to identify a common heritage – globally and locally before they could unite and build their own nations and a better world. Post-apartheid South Africa could therefore be seen from this perspective whereby the history textbooks as a vehicle can
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promote post-apartheid and post-conflict nation building and citizenship efforts through a representation of symbolism and identity.
As a result it could be said that the dominant presentation of symbolic-identity heritage coincides with the desire to promote citizenship and nation building through the identification of common heritage icons. Nation building will by extension lead to greater unity amongst the nations of the world (van Wijk, no date) and specifically in post- conflict South Africa.