Silence, voice, and “other languages”: Digital storytelling as a site for resistance and restoration in a South African higher education classroom

Abstract

In order to investigate the composing practices of digital storytellers in a South African context, a qualitative case study, set within a university of technology in South Africa and framed by literature stemming from the disciplines of digital storytelling and composition and rhetoric, was implemented as part of a larger dissertation project initiated in 2014. This study spanned a year and included participant observation and the collection of interviews as primary methods of investigation. Findings linked digital storytelling to create a liberating classroom space where students could redefine themselves outside of historicized representations. Within a digital storytelling praxis, the story circle component has proven to be an effective means to engage students in both a reflective and critical engagement of their own writing practices, highlighting the synergy between the spoken word, process-based writing, and digital formats for composing. However, questions remain surrounding the ethical practice of digital storytelling in classrooms especially when students share personal stories and those stories are both publicly consumed and graded. Implications for practice cover themes relating to the integration of technology that supports the democratization of varied voices in the public sphere, which is particularly important in post-conflict zone environments like South Africa.