The Hidden History Curriculum: Negotiated Gendered History Education in Ghana

History education typically followed patriarchal grand narratives that emphasized men’s activities and men-centered events. This educational indoctrination has disadvantaged women’s positionality in history and contemporary narratives. In this article, we analyze the unequal representation of women in pre-secondary and secondary curricula and the politics of intellectual and political hegemony in history education, which has resulted in women’s limited representation. We rely on archival data, as well as colonial and postcolonial history curricula and textbooks. The hidden history curriculum is seen in the inadequate representation of African history during colonial rule (including women’s history), postcolonial marginalization of women’s history (until recently), and insufficient representation of non-Akan women’s history, which has resulted in uncritical history training that fosters stereotypical prejudice against women.