2026/06/30 by Pretty Magangxa
paper · doi:10.38140/pie.v44i2.9110
Literacy teaching and learning encompass reading and writing and foster critical engagement with texts that have cultural and social implications. This understanding of literacy teaching has motivated me to critically engage with student teachers to promote social justice and understand how language empowers people to engage meaningfully in their social world. The purpose of this self-study is to explore my experiences of teaching critical literacy as a pedagogy in the isiXhosa literacy curriculum in the Bachelor of Education programme at a South African university. I used an art-based self-study methodology and Dewey’s reflective practice theory to examine my own teaching practices through a socio-cultural lens. My observations and interpretations were documented in reflective journal entries and collage-making as data-gathering methods. It allowed me to reflect, clarify, and critique my own psychological and cognitive processes and my resulting teaching approach, based on my understanding that critical literacy can empower me to develop insight into texts and the social constructs embedded therein. It is therefore key for teacher education programmes to engage in reflexive practices for both teacher educators and student teachers, enabling them to evaluate their practices.