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Selected research
Why school tourism shouldn’t be encouraged anyway in Africa
Similar to orphanage tourism, slum tourism, village tourism and poverty tourism, school tourism perpetuates colonisation and the idea of white superiority, and should not be part of our schools. Tourists, tour companies and schools must be educated.
"These sorts of tourism come with several ethical problems: photography of unconsenting children and adults, intrusions on people’s private lives, daily interruptions to children’s routines and issues of child protection. Tourists visit a school for between two and three hours. They usually enter classrooms, photograph children and sometimes watch cultural displays like singing and dancing. These tours are generally part of an arrangement with a tourism company but exist in a multitude of forms globally. As an example, a school tour often sits within the itinerary of a tour of southern Africa, or alongside wildlife tourism ventures.
"Ideally, school tours should not occur at all. However, due to Zimbabwe’s economic instability, schools are becoming increasingly resourceful to find avenues for additional funding. Although they are not a perfect solution, philanthropic partnerships need to exist. My research does not suggest that people should avoid visiting Zimbabwe as a whole and I do not want to suggest that philanthropic funding of schools is necessarily bad. Rather, it is important to seek out tourism experiences that do not homogenise culture and cultural experiences. Tourists should also consider the itinerary of any tours they book and aim to avoid companies that offer school tours."
Quotations are from Kathleen's media report of the research.
Cite as: Kathleen Smithers (2023) Heterotopia and the ‘image of Africa’: school tours and philanthropy in a Zimbabwean school, Critical Studies in Education, DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2023.2286230 |
