Abstract: While digital storytelling has entered higher education as a vehicle to reflect on issues of identity and difference, there is a paucity of research framed by a critical perspective unpacking underlying power structures in the classroom. This st udy reports on an ongoing project in a South African pre‑service Teacher Education course in which final‑year students reflected in the form of digital stories on the notion of difference and how it affected their journey to becoming a teacher. Drawing o n theories of resistance, counterstorytelling and multimodality, five of these digital stories, students⠒ reflective essays and discussions in a focus group were analysed to investigate types of resistance in students⠒ narratives, their perceptions of the functions of counterstorytelling, and what multimodal analysis of these stories could tell us about the relationship of students⠒ identities, their choice of modes and their learning. Results of the study showed students⠒ intent to develop so‑cal led â counterstories⠒, defined as stories that challenge social and racial injustice, which are usually not heard in education. Students also perceived telling of counterstories as useful to building communities among marginalised students, acting as m odel stories, providing an alternative window into the world of students of colour and a space for healing. While only one story could be defined as portraying â transformational resistance⠒, carrying the highest potential for social change, others wer e important documents of disadvantaged students⠒ fight for survival, and might well challenge some of the existing power structures in their classroom. Multimodal analysis of the stories revealed contradictory elements, highlighting the difficulty for s tudents to resist dominant discourses, but also showing the increasing (conscious or unconscious) emotional audience manipulation evidenced in production of digital stories by the more privileged students. We suggest that engaging students in multimodal analysis of their own stories could facilita

In South Africa, the Western Cape government (WCG)’s current broadband strategy aims to ensure that all schools will be connected to broadband service within a reasonable time‑frame. According to the WCG integration of ICTs and the broadband will remove the digital divide and enhance curriculum delivery in schools. To achieve this, sensible long‑term planning must be in place to ensure that subject advisors are adequately trained and equipped to participate in the connected schools environment and effectively assist teachers integrate digital resources into classrooms. The aim of this paper is to explore how subject advisors perceive of their preparedness to embrace new technologies for their advisory job; to ensure effective teaching and learning. A qualitative research approach was used; randomly selected education districts in the Western Cape Province provided subject advisors to be participants in the study. Results show that most subject advisors perceive their complex knowledge of how to effectively integrate ICTs into curriculum delivery as inadequate hence are hesitant to advise teachers on effective technology integration into classrooms.