ABSTRACT
Storytelling in South Africa has a long and progressive history. To this extent, I analyze university student perceptions associated with sharing stories when asked to participate in a story circle with peers of mixed races and languages and then again, to voice that same, personal story as a narrator within a digital story each student creates for public consumption and as a requirement in a teacher preparation course. This case study offers insight into the joint questions regarding how personal experience is received across lines of difference and what impact telling of one’s history through story has on modes of discourse, issues of practice, and pedagogical assumptions of pre-service teachers. Following this line of inquiry is especially important in South Africa where the demand for racial equity and cultural acknowledgment are vital components for a true reconciliation as Nelson Mandela envisioned. Central to my investigation questions how both the “silenced” and the “voiced” aspects of a story can become entry points into unpacking student perceptions of “self” and “other,” and how such assessments shift as stories unfold in classroom spaces. Rhetorical exchange through both oral and digital storytelling is particularly important in South Africa where past apartheid practices still inform general opinions and forge public spaces. Educating pre-service teachers to meet the demands of a democratic South Africa, I believe, is closely tied with Freire’s (1970) idea of conscientization. And, mainly, I argue that storytelling is not only a valid praxis for preparing teachers, but also a way to bridge the divide between the old South Africa and the new.
