What’s Left Unsaid: Rewriting and Restorying in a South African Teacher Education Classroom by Kristian D. Stewart A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education (Curriculum and Practice) at the University of Michigan-Dearborn 2016 Doctoral Committee: Associate Professor Christopher Burke, Chair Associate Professor Stein Brunvand Professor Emerita Gloria House Professor Joe Lunn South African Site Supervisor: Associate Professor Eunice Ivala, Cape Peninsula University of Technology © Kristian D. Stewart 2016 i Dedication “We are one, but we’re not the same. We have to carry each other” “One” by U2. “i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)” E.E. Cummings. I dedicate this work to the 2014 DST facilitators’ cohort. Many thanks are due to these phenomenal students who allowed me to enter their classroom-and their lives-as I completed this study. Without their kindness, knowledge, and just overall unselfish willingness to help, I would have never gained the insight required to write this dissertation. Graeme, in particular, not only got me hooked on rugby, but he assisted me in this endeavor from the very first moment I stepped on campus through the duration of this project. I cannot stress how grateful I am for the working relationship--and now friendship after the fact--that Graeme and I have established. This sentiment of friendship and gratitude also extends to Mia and Tayla and Pieter and Luniko, to Andre, Sisipha, and Felix. You are all such amazing human beings, such incredible teachers, and my life is definitely better because I now share it with all of you. I carry your stories; I hold them in my heart. ii Acknowledgements “I have hated words and I have loved them, and I hope I have made them right” (Zusak, 2009, p.528). “It all seems impossible until it’s done” (Nelson Mandela). This dissertation could not have been written without the support and guidance of several people and entities. First, I would like to thank my chair, Dr. Christopher Burke. I am grateful, Dr. Burke, that you took a student and turned her into a scholar. I hope that I have constructed this project in a way that has made you proud. I would also like to thank you for your guidance, encouragement, and friendship over the last five years. To the rest of my committee: Dr. Gloria House, Dr. Joe Lunn, and Dr. Stein Brunvand, thank you for believing in my work enough to support me over the last few years. Dr. Lunn, I feel like you and I have been on this journey the longest, as you were the first to witness as I wrestled with this new pedagogy that turned out to be digital storytelling so long ago. You have been with me since the beginning, and I feel grateful that you are standing next to me at the end. To Dr. Eunice Ivala, my South African supervisor: You have been my mentor, editor, and teacher. Thank you for supporting me from the first email I sent you after hearing you speak at a conference, to the message of encouragement you sent me last night! Thank you actually seems inadequate for all of your dedication to me over the last two years! A special note of appreciation also goes out to Janet Condy, Marlene Esau, and Matthew Curr. Thank you for including me in the wonderful South African tradition of rusk and tea iii breaks. Not only did I learn to love rusks, but thinking out loud with all of you developed and refined my understanding of South African subjectivities. I also would not have been able to complete chapter two without the aid and assistance of Pippa Campbell, the wonderful librarian who tracked down elusive texts for me from all over South Africa! Also, in Cape Town, I thank the Steelworx Bar at the Rockwell Hotel (my hut away from home) where I drank rooibos tea and constructed chapter two. To my friends there--Diana, Jack, Soma, Talent and others, your insight was invaluable to my work. To my friends at Vasco (world’s best bar): thank you for adopting me as a regular, talking me through several chapters, and keeping me fed and happy through all of my stays. GO BOKKE! Thank you also goes to my good friend Malcolm Chinake and the “Changing Education Express.” Malcolm, it was nice dreaming about changing South African schools with you! Next, back in Michigan, I would like to thank both Sabrina Guyton and Ann Lampkin- Williams. These wonderful ladies managed my King-Chavez-Park Future Faculty Fellowship, which provided funding for the totality of my doctoral education. In addition, the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and the Lecturers’ Employee Organization (LEO), both at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, provided financial support for this research through different grants. And, my gratitude goes to Dr. Bill DeGenaro and the Writing Program at the University of Michigan-Dearborn for offering financial support that was instrumental in facilitating this research. To my Cohort 3 girls—particularly Amira and Alison: You both have kept me sane through this journey. I am a better person and definitely a more rounded scholar because I was lucky enough to attend graduate school at the same time as both of you. #GKG! To my partner in iv crime, Daniela Gachago, I thank you for being a fearless and radical educator. Your work continues to inspire my own. To Alex and Zach, my wonderful boys: You have sacrificed more than you know so that I could write this dissertation. I thank you and I love you very much. I hope that my research, and now my life’s work, will serve to make the world a better place for the both of you. For my parents and husband’s parents, I thank you for your support and encouragement. And last, but never least. These lines are for you, Kirk. You are my partner, my husband, and my best friend. You never doubted; you never questioned. Rather, you held the fort down without complaint and took care of the guys we cherish most just so I could complete this study. Our life together has been an amazing adventure, and I feel lucky, happy, and filled with gratitude each and every day. Ti voglio bene...sempre di più. v Table of Contents Dedication ....................................................................................................................................i Acknowledgments ..........................................................................................................................ii List of Appendices .......................................................................................................................xi List of Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................xii Abstract ........................................................................................................................................1 Chapter I The Case of South Africa .............................................................................................2 Statement of the Problem .................................................................................................4 Purpose of the Study ........................................................................................................6 Chapter II History and Current Policies of the South African Education System .......................8 Education in the Western Cape, 1652-1922 ....................................................................8 The British influence in the Cape ........................................................................10 The establishment of the university .....................................................................11 Teacher training and education for White student populations ...........................11 Non-White education and teacher training ..........................................................12 The Coloured population .........................................................................14 Asian and Indians .....................................................................................15 The emergence of technikons ..............................................................................16 Education in South Africa, 1923-1975 ............................................................................17 Native South African education and the Department of Native Affairs ..............18 The National Education Policy Act of 1967 ........................................................21 vi Education 1975 to Democracy ........................................................................................22 Higher Education in South Africa, 1994- Present ..........................................................24 Summation of Chapter II .................................................................................................31 Chapter III Intersection of Spatial Theory and Pedagogy ...........................................................33 Henri Lefebvre and Edward Soja: Carving a Space for a Story .....................................33 Pierre Bourdieu: Cultural Capital and Habitus ...............................................................36 Henry Giroux: Crossing Borders Through Pedagogy ....................................................39 Summation of Chapter III ................................................................................................40 Chapter IV The Digital Storytelling Genre and Persistent Questions Concerning the Use of Personal Narrative in Academic Work .......................................................................................42 Personal Writing? Narrative?