Beyond data production : exploring the use of a digital archive in addressing HIV-related stigma with educators in two rural schools in KwaZulu-Natal.

Thesis (M.Ed.) - University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.This study outlines the use of a digital archive (a data set of staged HIV stigma photographs which were taken by Grade 8 and 9 learners) with educators in two rural schools in KwaZulu-Natal, exploring their views on using it in their teaching to address HIV and AIDS-related stigma. It responds to the need for creative and participatory methods in addressing HIV and AIDS. A qualitative, interpretive, exploratory and contextual design, using community-based participatory research methodology, was used to explore the digital archive, identify, and try out ways in which it could be used in addressing the pandemic. Data was generated using ICT-based focus group interviews involving fourteen male and female educators from two schools some - who have been participating in HIV research projects. I draw on a psycho-social framework within the ecosystemic approach, the values of community psychology and research as social change. A digital archive has potential for communication and transferring information, especially in a rural area. It also shows potential to get both females and males to work together in addressing HIV-related stigma, hence reducing the gendered skewness of this pandemic. From the educators‟ responses to using the digital archive, themes emerged around working with the content of the archive, using the archive for teaching and learning, using the archive for engaging with stigma in the school and for change in the community. The findings suggest that the use of a digital archive in a rural context can enable educators to access and share digital material, which is locally produced, relevant and realistic, to address HIV-related stigma in the school. The tool in use can facilitate community participation and be used to deepen the understanding about HIV and HIV and AIDS-related stigma to a level that has impact on individual behaviour and ultimately on the community. Despite the potential there are still challenges such as lack of access to infrastructure, literacy, and relevant content. This work is exploratory and encourages further work to explore the implications and the trends on the use of a digital archive in other school settings

Digital storytelling to explore HIV- and AIDS- related stigma with secondary school learners in a rural community in KwaZulu-Natal

This study explores, through digital storytelling, the experiences of HIV- and AIDS-related stigma of rural community secondary school learners. HIV- and AIDS-related stigma is seen as an impediment to a proficient response to HIV and AIDS in communities, also rural communities, and requires addressing. The rural community in which the research is undertaken is particularly hard hit by HIV and AIDS. Learners’ experiences of HIV- and AIDS related stigma could therefore inform how school and community could engage with HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and how they could address it in a constructive way. The study attempts to respond to two research questions: What can digital storytelling reveal about secondary school learners’ experiences of HIV- and AIDS-related stigma in schools in a rural community? How can digital storytelling enable secondary school learners in school in a rural community to take action to address stigma? This qualitative study is positioned within a critical paradigm, and employs a community-based participatory research strategy. Twelve Grade 8 and 9 male and female learners aged 15 to 18 years, from two secondary schools in rural Vulindlela district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, who experienced, witnessed or heard about HIV- and AIDS-related stigma participated. Digital storytelling, a visual participatory method, was used to generate the data, and this was complemented by group discussion and written pieces completed by the participants in reflection sessions. The thematic analysis of the data made use of participatory analysis: the analysis of the digital stories was done by the participants while the overarching analysis was done by the researcher. This study, located in the field of the Psychology of Education, is informed by the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism. In terms of the experienced stigma, it was found that living with HIV and AIDS and the related stigma is perceived as a ‘hardship’. The stigma is experienced on many levels: in the family, at school, and from friends and members of the community. It has an impact on the individual on an intrapersonal and interpersonal level. The young person is caught up in a vicious cycle of silent suffering since there are no reliable and trustworthy people with whom he or she can share these challenges. Some so-called traditional beliefs and customs such as not talking about sex, and practices like virginity testing, also fuel HIV- and AIDS-related stigma. The use of derogatory terms and the severe criticism of early sexual debut along with the gossiping which is used to spread the stigmatising statements further complicate the hardship experienced by young people. Digital storytelling was found to not only enable the learners’ voices to be heard but also to enable their taking charge of the stigma and thus create the space for critical participation in this research. The implications for the study are that the pervasive stigma that young people experience should be addressed at every level of the community. The stakeholders such as the families, school, educators, the King (Inkosi) and Chiefs (Indunas) of the area, relevant departments with that of Education taking the lead, must work hand-in-hand with the affected young people. Such collaboration may allow for the identification of the problem, for reflection on it, and also for the addressing of it. HIV- and AIDS-related stigma, while it has changed since the emergence of HIV, still is an issue that many HIV-positive individuals have to contend with. This stigma is, however, contextual and how the individual is stigmatised fits in with the language, meaning and thought that a community constructs around stigma. While digital storytelling enables the uncovering of particular stories of stigma that learners experience in the context of a school in a rural community, the digital storytelling in and of itself enables a change in the language, meaning and thought around stigma in its drawing on the specifics of the stigma as experienced in the community. Also, digital storytelling is about sharing stories about, and experiences of HIV- and AIDS-related stigma and how these stories can be used as part of the solution. If such stories can be told, people can spread them just as gossip is spread, but in this case such spreading would work towards positive social change. I claim that in order to confront the challenges raised by the perpetuation of stigma, efforts must involve the communities and must tap into their own experiences of perpetuating or enduring stigmatisation. Suggestions by the very same people from the community who are at the front line of perpetuating and /or suffering the stigma must be considered. This may also become one way of instantly communicating the research findings back to the community involved in the research. Using digital storytelling can ensure getting self-tailored, contextual, specific views on how HIV- and AIDS-related stigma is experienced but also how it could be addressed