A study critically examined Malawi's junior secondary History syllabus as a policy document in both theory and practice in the lens of Paulo Freire Pedagogy of the oppressed ( 1970). The study focused on the alignment of  learner centred and problem-posing pedagogy in fostering critical thought. The study was guided by three objectives which were: To critically analyse the philosophical foundations of Malawian history secondary school curriculum, evaluate the extent to which the curriculum reinforces critical thoughts and to analyse elements of Freire's philosophy in  the history curriculum implementation in Malawi. The study found that the history syllabus  promotes leaner centred approaches and strives to develop critical thinking in the learners though the suggested teaching methods. However, its implementation is affected by the dominance of Idealism and Realism as philosophies shaping the syllabus. The two philosophies affect the syllabus negatively in such a way that hampers the implementation of problem-posing philosophy as postulated by Freire (1970). The study concludes that the junior History syllabus has content that can promote critical thinking but structural challenges affects the promotion of critical thinking and thought according to Freire.