No abstract

Literature argues that for post-conflict pedagogies to facilitate student engagement across difference it requires emotional engagement with the subject. However, how to achieve such emotional engagement, without falling into the trap of sentimentality, is an area that is under-researched. This paper reflects on conversations with South African students in a final year pre-service teacher-training programme, who developed digital stories as a vehicle for student engagement across difference. Applying 'critical emotional reflexivity' (Zembylas 2011) as an analytical framework, we found that students described the digital storytelling process as opening up different ways of being with/for the 'Other' and allowing them to start questioning cherished beliefs and assumptions about the 'Other'. However, they had difficulties in placing themselves in a bigger historical and sociocultural context. Furthermore, the specific set-up of the project made it difficult to track lasting social change within students, the fourth element of Zembylas' theoretical framework. Findings also confirmed the potential of digital stories to lead to sentimentality and 'passive empathy' (Boler 1999), characterised by pity from the part of the privileged observer and resentment from the subjugated storyteller. We recommend adding a historical-political analysis of previous students' stories to the digital storytelling process in order to help students deconstruct positions premised on the existence of clearly differentiated identities and to consciously create spaces where a reflection on the emotions students encountered while sharing and listening to their stories can be facilitated.

Understanding and managing diverse classrooms is an important competency for teachers in South Africa today. Critics of the dominant approach to teaching on and with difference in pre-service teacher education argue that it mostly promotes de-contextualised celebrations of diverse cultures without addressing critical issues of power and social forces. One of the reasons that educators shy away from engaging with issues of power and privilege in the classroom is the fear of highly explosive emotions that might emerge. However, proponents of the "affective turn" (Gregg and Seigworth, 2010) in the Social Sciences argue that it is important to work with the emotions that govern our classrooms for social transformation in students to happen.This study pilots an innovative approach for teaching on and with difference in a South African pre-service teacher education classroom, combining a digital storytelling process with participatory learning and action techniques and a reflective essay. Framed by Boler and Zembylas" (2003) work on the politics of emotions and feminist writings on the role of affect and public feelings, we explored how students experienced and negotiated their cognitive and emotional journey in this project. An interpretive analysis of data collected through focus groups with selected students revealed that this classroom was a divided, complex and contested space, but through interplay of emotional and cognitive labour as part of sharing and listening openly to each others" stories, students began to critically engage with unspoken emotional rules and power dynamics governing the classroom and their lives, disrupting some deeply rooted beliefs and assumptions.

Higher education institutions in South Africa are faced with low throughput rates, and the need to enhance students' interest in their studies is a key objective for higher education institutions. Student engagement is one of the factors shown empirically to enhance student success at higher education institutions. The paper reports on the potential of digital storytelling in enhancing student engagement with their studies, amongst 29 final year pre-service student teachers at a large University of Technology in South Africa, as part of their assessment in their final year professional course. The reason for doing this research was due to the limited adoption of digital storytelling in conventional educational settings globally and the fact that little research has been done internationally and particularly in South Africa, into how digital storytelling can be a vehicle for expanding learning. The study was framed around the engagement construct involving qualitative methods of collecting data. Focus group interviews were conducted with the students and the facilitators of the project to elicit whether the production of digital stories led to student engagement. Focus group interviews were analyzed using inductive strategy. Results showed that the production of digital stories enhanced student engagement with their studies which led to high levels of reflection on the subject matter, which as a result led to a deep understanding of the subject matter. Findings of this study will contribute knowledge in the field which may be valuable in increasing student engagement with their studies.

It has been shown that teachers are reluctant to use technology despite the South African (SA) government's huge expenditure on technological equipment. This might be the result of teachers being unable to select appropriate technology that will yield positive learning outcomes as well as being ill-equipped to integrate technology into their pedagogy. To this end, pre-service teachers at a University were trained on how to integrate digital storytelling (DST) effectively into their teaching. The aim of this study is to gain insight into the potential benefits of DST for teaching and learning and to determine factors that may prevent pre-service teachers' uptake of DST during in-service practice. This is a qualitative study in which fifty pre-service teachers were divided into five groups for focus group interviews. Data were analysed, and the results show that preservice teachers perceived DST to be beneficial in the classroom as it has the potential to (i) motivate and engage learners, (ii) promote voice/self-expression, and (iii) promote collaborative learning and acquisition of multiple skills. Pre-service teachers are of the opinion that a lack of resources, self-confidence and time owing to restrictive curricula may prevent uptake of DST during in-service teaching. It was recommended that school stakeholders create a balance between intrinsic and extrinsic factors that will promote the adoption and integration of DST into teaching. Also, the education institution concerned strives to balance all three strands of knowledge: technology, pedagogy and content.