Gachago, D. 2015. Seeing the world through somebody else’s eyes: developing capabilities for a socially just education. In J. Condy, ed. Telling stories differently: Engaging 21st century students through Digital Storytelling. Stellenbosch: SUN Press, pp. 99–106. Seeing the world through somebody else’s eyes: developing capabilities for a socially just education Daniela Gachago Capabilities approach Martha Nussbaum (2010) and other followers of Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach to human development (1999), argue that there are specific capabilities that learners have to acquire in order to learn to live peacefully and respectfully with the ‘other’. The legacy of the deeply unjust system of Apartheid still influences the lives of today’s youth, not only in terms of access to resources and opportunities for schooling and careers, but also in relation to social interactions (Jansen 2009). Since 1994, on paper the creation of more diverse schools, based on the principles of anti-racism, has been at the forefront of the government’s efforts to create a more equitable society. South African schools in practice, however, have predominantly followed an assimilationist route. This is based on the firm belief that the dominant culture is unquestionably good and has consequently reproduced fundamentally asymmetric relations among learners (Soudien 2012). For schools to become safer, enabling and socially just, it is essential to start working from within Higher Education (HE), in particular from within teacher education programmes, to prepare future teachers to create spaces that transform learners’ current social engagement across racial, linguistic, and cultural divides. This would also facilitate the questioning of some beliefs and assumptions about the ‘other’ that have been transferred from generation to our learners and would raise awareness on the learners’ roles in perpetrating social injustices (Jansen 2009). Since 2010 a digital storytelling project for final-year, pre-service teachers in the Faculty of Education has formed a module of the professional studies course. Digital storytelling has helped to open up a democratic and inclusive space for students to share and listen to stories they would usually not hear, and in the process change some of the assumptions and beliefs they hold about the ‘other’. However, previous research has shown that students could talk in a seemingly easy manner about their own experiences, but had difficulties in placing themselves within a bigger, historical and socio-cultural context, which is essential to allow the questioning of beliefs, assumptions, and the exposing of privilege and comfort zones.