Controversial Memory and Digital Mediation: Preservice Teachers’ Approaches to the Soweto Uprising

Abstract

The controversial topic of the 1976 Soweto Uprising in the South African history curriculum poses significant challenges for teachers seeking to teach it critically. Extensively studied as a historical and political event, little attention has been paid to how it is taught, despite its powerful role in historical thinking. Teachers have the power to present the event as a closed chapter of the past or as a dynamic story that fosters interpretation and reflection. Located within a qualitative, interpretive paradigm, this study examines how preservice history teachers integrate digital tools into their instruction of this event, to foster learner engagement and civic consciousness. The study employs a collaborative design in which 268 students were divided into small groups of approximately 10. Data are generated from 10 purposively sampled Information and Communication Technology (ICT) projects, incorporating online resources and a reflective activity detailing their pedagogical approaches. Findings reveal considerable variation in source selection, teacher positionality, and uneven depth in historical reasoning and in the mediation of contemporary interpretations. Drawing on critical pedagogy (Freire, 2000) and the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge framework (Mishra & Koehler, 2006), the study highlights that digital tools can be used to present historical sources, and through a process of sifting, sorting, and critiquing evidence for their reliability and trustworthiness, ‘Learning by doing’ as a fundamental teaching competency can stimulate learner skills, like multi-perspectivity.