An important issue confronting newly emerging nations in Africa is the development of a new curriculum to reflect the changing norms and views of the past. Looking at nations that share a common British educational tradition, a study done in Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe asked which topics and categories of cultural knowledge were essential for the development of a national cultural literacy. Another concern was whether one ethnic group or a mosaic of groups would be represented in the revised curriculum, and how African states could identify content for syllabuses that supported national unity in countries that were characterized by ethnic diversity. All four countries had centralized educational systems with national primary and secondary school curricula that were considered the best indicators of what was taught in the schools. Using a process of content analysis, each syllabus topic was separated and recategorized into broad categories, and then into smaller ones. A chart of topics was developed by quantifying the attention the topic received in the syllabus, and then looking for major priorities, exceptions, and questions. Customs, beliefs, and government were found to be universal priorities, although the emphasis varied among countries. The study showed that there is considerable variance in the way social studies builds a national cultural literacy, and each country held different views on what common knowledge their youth should share. (NL)