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Protecting Jobs and Lives: Teachers' Passive Resistance and Subtle Protest to Curriculum Policy in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe

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Title: Protecting Jobs and Lives: Teachers' Passive Resistance and Subtle Protest to Curriculum Policy in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe
Language: English
Authors: Godsend T. Chimbi (ORCID 0000-0002-6417-4355), Loyiso C. Jita
Source: Power and Education. 2026 18(1):37-49.
Availability: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 13
Publication Date: 2026
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Descriptors: Teacher Attitudes, Resistance to Change, Foreign Countries, Educational Policy, Curriculum, Democratic Values, Activism, Politics of Education, Teacher Strikes
Geographic Terms: Lesotho, South Africa, Zimbabwe
DOI: 10.1177/17577438241297235
ISSN: 1757-7438
Abstract: Most studies on teacher resistance to curriculum policy and reform implementation focus on teacher activism and visible acts of resistance. But there is growing interest in teachers' passive resistance and covert protest in the face of intimidating state power. This paper theorises subtleties of teacher protest in three Southern African states -- Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In these countries, teacher strikes, class boycotts and sit-ins have received heavy handed reaction from the government, resulting in psychological intimidation, physical assaults and incarceration. The key question driving this paper, therefore, is: Faced with shrinking democratic space, how are teachers in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe recalibrating protest strategies? This paper argues that state repression pushes teachers to retreat from active protest and resort to subtle protest, to protect their jobs and lives. The unique contributions of this paper are that it borrows James Scott's typology of 'everyday invisible acts of resistance', developed from an anthropological study of peasants struggle in a Malay village, to theorise teacher resistance in pseudo-democratic spaces. It also generates novel insights on how teachers continue to resist curriculum policy while sending false signals of compliance to repressive state power.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: EJ1497978
Database: ERIC
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  Data: Protecting Jobs and Lives: Teachers' Passive Resistance and Subtle Protest to Curriculum Policy in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Godsend+T%2E+Chimbi%22">Godsend T. Chimbi</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6417-4355">0000-0002-6417-4355</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Loyiso+C%2E+Jita%22">Loyiso C. Jita</searchLink>
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  Data: SAGE Publications. 2455 Teller Road, Thousand Oaks, CA 91320. Tel: 800-818-7243; Tel: 805-499-9774; Fax: 800-583-2665; e-mail: journals@sagepub.com; Web site: https://sagepub.com
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Attitudes%22">Teacher Attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Resistance+to+Change%22">Resistance to Change</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+Policy%22">Educational Policy</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Curriculum%22">Curriculum</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Democratic+Values%22">Democratic Values</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Activism%22">Activism</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Politics+of+Education%22">Politics of Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Strikes%22">Teacher Strikes</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Lesotho%22">Lesotho</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22South+Africa%22">South Africa</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Zimbabwe%22">Zimbabwe</searchLink>
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  Data: 10.1177/17577438241297235
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  Data: Most studies on teacher resistance to curriculum policy and reform implementation focus on teacher activism and visible acts of resistance. But there is growing interest in teachers' passive resistance and covert protest in the face of intimidating state power. This paper theorises subtleties of teacher protest in three Southern African states -- Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. In these countries, teacher strikes, class boycotts and sit-ins have received heavy handed reaction from the government, resulting in psychological intimidation, physical assaults and incarceration. The key question driving this paper, therefore, is: Faced with shrinking democratic space, how are teachers in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe recalibrating protest strategies? This paper argues that state repression pushes teachers to retreat from active protest and resort to subtle protest, to protect their jobs and lives. The unique contributions of this paper are that it borrows James Scott's typology of 'everyday invisible acts of resistance', developed from an anthropological study of peasants struggle in a Malay village, to theorise teacher resistance in pseudo-democratic spaces. It also generates novel insights on how teachers continue to resist curriculum policy while sending false signals of compliance to repressive state power.
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      – SubjectFull: Resistance to Change
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      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
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      – SubjectFull: Politics of Education
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      – SubjectFull: Teacher Strikes
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      – SubjectFull: Lesotho
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      – SubjectFull: South Africa
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      – SubjectFull: Zimbabwe
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