What’s the fuss about chocolate?
Ghana, cocoa, colonialism and
globalization.
The practice of history and secondary
teaching
• Deep subject knowledge is necessary but what
about ‘PCK’?
• There is an ‘epistemic tradition’ (C.Counsel)
• This provides guidance as to the forms,
processes and structures of history.
• The practice is transformed in pedagogy and
interpreted in the curriculum.
Historical thinking:
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This is promoted in the foreword of CAPS
Perspective, interpretation, debate
Context
What about historiographical understanding:
national history, Africanist history, social
history, new cultural history, gender history,
post-colonial history?
The story of
cocoa and CAPS
Gr 8: Scramble for Africa –
case study of Ashanti.
Cocoa introduced to Africa as
an example of early
globalization and of
colonial influence
Gr 11: From Gold Coast to
Ghana.
Colonial policy evident in
approach to cocoa industry:
from umpire to the
developmental state;
Nkrumah ‘s approach
Globalization
Gr 12: A new World Order
Ghana’s place in a globalized world
– parallels with Ivory Coast;
Cocoa in the world market;
Issues of child labour become
human rights issues.
What questions would different
historians ask?
• What is the meaning of
chocolate ?
• How can we overcome the
silences about women in
this very male story?
• What about the everyday
lives of cocoa producers?
• What was the mental world
of colonial subjects?
• Should we celebrate the
agency of peasant farmers
or decry their exploitation?
• Isn’t this all fiction anyway?