Heterotopia and the ‘image of Africa’: school tours and philanthropy in a Zimbabwean school

Schools in southern Africa use tourism partnerships as a source for establishing philanthropic funding and philanthropic networks. In these partnerships, there is often an exchange of funds for use of the school for tourism purposes. Little is known about the influence of tourism on schools. Drawing on interviews with teachers and tourism personnel in one school that is also a tourism destination, this paper uses the concept of heterotopia to explore the spatial imagery associated with the image of Africa and how the norms of the tourism industry govern and reshape schooling. This paper contributes to our understanding of schools funded by tourism by critiquing how an image is reproduced for the tourist gaze and how schools funded by tourism become a mirror of the tourism industry.