This book explores the phenomena of school tours and tourism. It explores tensions of authenticity and artificiality in the school site being both a place of community learning and a spectacle for tourism consumption.
Through the example of a school in Matabeleland North, Zimbabwe, the book examines the act of a school tour, whose main aim is to providing fund for the school. It offers a unique interdisciplinary lens, that examines both the school as a tourism destination and as a site of learning. By drawing on these two fields, the book provides insights into the tensions inherent in a school that is also a tourism destination. This book will demonstrate to readers the tensions present in tourism partnerships with schools that include some source of philanthropic funding and unpack the complexities of tourism that draws on stereotypical cultural images. It explores these tensions through the lens of school leaders, students, teachers and tourism personnel.
The book provides a major and unique contribution to the field of tourism studies and education. It will be of interest to students and researchers interested in tourism studies, sociology, education, philanthropy, development studies and the Global South.
Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION
Image(s) of Africa
Education challenges
A note on terminology
Introduction to the research
Structure of the book
Chapter 2 HOW DOES TOURISM COME TO BE IN A SCHOOL?
Economic challenges: A brief history
Education challenges: A system in crisis
Tourism in Zimbabwe
Summary
Chapter 3 INTRODUCING MATOPO SCHOOL
Matopo School
Education Tours
Adventure Company
Shumba Safaris
The funding arrangement
My relationship to the school
Summary
Chapter 4 THE WHITE SAVIOUR COMPLEX
Development
Developmentourism and education: problems of naming
The white saviour complex
Dominant images of Majority World children
Summary
Chapter 5 BUILDING THE SET AND PRODUCING ‘AFRICA’
Set design: An image of Africa
Managing conflicting roles of the school
Use of children because teachers tell lies
Summary
Chapter 6: THE STARRING ROLE: POOR-BUT-HAPPY CHILDREN
Playing a character: Poor-but-happy children
“They are in love with the children”
Tourist-Visitor-Friend
Summary
Chapter 7 BREAKING THE FOURTH WALL: THE WHITE SAVIOUR AS PROTAGONIST
The protagonist: The white saviour
Complexities of the white saviour in action
The role I was assigned
The tension of external funders
The white saviour and the local community
Summary
Chapter 8 CONCLUSION
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