Abstract:
This article reports on a study of pre-service teachers’ literacy narratives
in a South African institution of higher learning. Literacy self-narratives of
57 students were collected and analysed for categories and themes under narrator
and sponsor identities through the use of AtlasTi software. The results of
the study show the role of historical, cultural and political contexts in shaping
literacy identities of student teachers. The results also show huge disparities of
literacy experiences among different racial and gender groupings, which highlight
social and educational opportunities. Using New literacies and
Multiliteracies frameworks, I consider how these literacy challenges may be
transformed to facilitate a just and equitable society. Particular implications of
the students’ constructions of literacy identities are considered at the end of the
article.
