The local curriculum as a way of including traditional knowledge: the case of Mozambique (2003-2024)

Abstract

This article has as its object of study “the local curriculum and traditional knowledge in Mozambique”. The general objective of the study is to understand how the achievement of Mozambique’s independence contributed or not to the decolonization of curricula, contemplating or not the inclusion of traditional knowledge in school education. To this end, we present the curricular policies of the post-independence period of Mozambique, 2003-2024; we reflect on the role of education for the inclusion of traditional knowledge in Mozambique from 2003 to 2024; and we infer reflections on the contribution of the local curriculum as a tool for the inclusion of indigenous knowledge of communities in Mozambique. The guiding question of the study that guided us in this writing refers to the question of knowing to what extent the local curriculum constitutes a tool for the inclusion of traditional (indigenous) knowledge in education in Mozambique? The article is the result of a literature review. The research revealed that the curriculum represents power, and that FRELIMO, in thinking about a single national curriculum, sought to make sense of its ideology of national unity, which had begun with its formation in 1962, bringing together various movements to liberate the country. Thus, although the local curriculum contributes to the inclusion of cultural practices and stories from communities, it still distances itself from fundamental issues such as local agricultural festival calendars, agricultural calendars and the variations in relief and climate adjacent to each particular geographic region.