Shattering the Silence: Dialogic Engagement About Education Protest Actions in South African University Classrooms

• In Event: 25.085 - Sheraton Roundtable One - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 25.085-8 - Educational Space, Academic Knowledge, and Student Experiences in International Contexts

Abstract

Utilising the research methodology of narrative inquiry and the theoretical framework of Pedagogy of Compassion, this study explores how academics create safe spaces in university classrooms for dialogic engagement about education protest actions in South Africa. Data capture included a mix of focus group interviews, participant reflections, field notes and a researcher journal and was analysed using the content analysis method. Findings reveal that lecturers had to navigate through the institutional quagmire and were confronted by polarised thinking of students. It seemed that student protest actions had a negative effect on lecturers. However, despite the tide of negativity and resistance, lecturers became transformative intellectuals and created safe spaces for students to engage in dialogue and to shatter the ‘normative’ silence.

Author

• Saloshna Vandeyar, University of Pretoria