Historical consciousness and indigenous rituals: History Education students’ attitude to the Zulu indigenous tradition

This explanatory and qualitative study stems from the expectation that history education students have developed the competency to apply historical consciousness to different concepts, including those that are part of their culture, such as the Zulu indigenous rituals. Historical consciousness is the conceptual framework and postcolonial theory is the theoretical framework for this study. 15 participants were divided into three focus groups for interviews. The findings from the data analysis revealed that participants had conflicting historical consciousness in relation to Zulu indigenous rituals. Their consciousness both conforms to and resists contextual infl uence rather than being informed by the official history they learn.