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This article is based on research carried out to investigate the prevailing conditions of schooling and classroom teaching and learning in southern Zimbabwe, using the Vygotskian socio-cultural theory to analyze the consequences that the breakdown of schooling and classroom teaching and learning had on learners ' performance and cognitive development. According to findings from the case study of a specific primary school in Gwanda district, classroom teaching and learning in rural Zimbabwe were adversely affected by a conglomerate of contextual factors and worsened by the prevailing socio-economic and political problems resulting in contradictory classroom practices of teaching and learning. The analysis reveals the extent to which classroom teaching and learning have deteriorated and how the cultural practices of this particular tradition of schooling impede on possibilities for meaningful learning activities in the classroom. The article contributes to an understanding of how specific cultural conditions of schooling affect learners ’ learning and cognitive development within the prevailing context of socio-economic and political instability in Zimbabwe and suggests ways in which teachers could organise pedagogy to assist their learners ’ learning and cognitive development