Abstract
This paper explores the process of self-reflection undertaken by a History
lecturer with a view to promoting the same type of critical awareness among a
group of third- year History students at a South African university. The study
draws on student experiences of and responses to a critical pedagogy that offered a
deconstruction of past identities and enabled an emerging discourse of agency with
contemporary relevance. By means of a qualitative methodological approach, openended,
reflective questionnaires were used amongst a focus group to gauge student
perspectives. The paper concludes that via creative and innovative pedagogy,
History can become a vehicle for promoting self-awareness and in turn critical
citizenship in South Africa’s current social context.