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Paper short abstract:

This pedagogical intervention study involving 75 students, used alternative-position digital storytelling as a critical pedagogy in Indian media psychology classroom. The study focussed on developing a sense of agency and regional relatability among participants and questioned 'deficiency' model.

Paper long abstract:

Hierarchical dynamics in traditional psychology classrooms come from two areas. The first deals with the educator-learner hierarchy, and the second is where a ‘deficiency approach’ is taken to shape the discourse of pathological development instead of a ‘capability approach’. Importance of using the capability lens in education was emphasized by scholars extensively (DeJaeghere & Walker, 2021).  Sen (1989, cited in Hattaka & De, 2011) explained the need to focus on enhancing people's real freedoms, subjective aspirations, and a sense of agency.

Resonance (Gerbner, 1960, cited in Mosharafa, 2015), i.e. close reflection of real-world phenomena, if properly implemented, can become a tool for enabling subjective aspirations among learners. Narasimha (1996) described the need for resonance in the Indian education system, through tailoring traditional pedagogies to cater to specific socio-cultural needs. Digital storytelling capitalizes on the power of narrative to engage students, foster critical thinking, and enhance knowledge retention (Pratt, 2019), and consequently fostering a sense of intellectual agency among learners.

This research explored the potential of digital storytelling as a critical pedagogy while emphasizing the significance of alternative-position storytelling in media psychology classrooms in India. The focus was on bringing out the regional narratives and integrating them into the larger discourse of media psychology pedagogy. Following Nussbaum’s (1998, cited in Von Wright, 2002) framework of ‘narrative imagination’, higher education needs to develop critical thinking skills among learners, so that they can take up others’ perspectives neutrally. This can be considered a capability in making them truly ‘democratic cultivated citizens’. Alternative- digital storytelling, as a form of regional storytelling, has the structure and possibility of nurturing this capability of ‘narrative imagination’. This study aimed to explore whether alternative digital storytelling could be used to shift the dynamics in the classroom and give voice to individuals who apparently do not hold power positions. Using a pedagogical intervention study design, we delved into the importance of telling regional narratives, minority narratives and non-mainstream media narratives in a classroom of 75 students. Findings showed that the media psychology course students realized the shift of dynamics, developed more equitable perspectives regarding the creation and influence of media content and found a sense of agency and relatability to regional representations. Learners extensively questioned and discussed the need for a capability approach in analysing pathologies, where subjective aspirations and well-being were redefined, and the deficiency lens was deconstructed.

Keywords: Classroom Equity, Alternative Digital Storytelling, Deconstruction, Equitable Education