Doves, rainbows and an uneasy peace: Student images of reconciliation in a post-conflict society

Abstract

In this article we draw on data from a two cycle action research project, in which ways of teaching reconciliation in post-apartheid secondary school classrooms are explored. We undertake a detailed analysis of a selection of artefacts produced by South African students representing their understandings of reconciliation. Initially students’ work conceived of reconciliation either interpersonally or intrapersonal. Subsequently work related to South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) resulted in a more socio historical engagement with the idea of reconciliation. An analysis of the visual and verbal messages on postcards designed by students suggests that they experience our ostensibly post conflict society as one of unstable peace. We argue that for a society with a violent past, reconciliation work needs to find ways of confronting the powerful discourses of the past that continue to circulate and to shape our identities and those of our students.