From story to scholarship: rethinking humanities pedagogy through indigenous storytelling in Sub-Saharan African higher education

Indigenous storytelling has long been central to how knowledge and cultural values are shared in Africa. This study explores how storytelling can serve as a pedagogical tool in Sub-Saharan African Humanities classrooms, aiming to make complex concepts more accessible and meaningful. Using a literature-based qualitative approach, it examines how narrative pedagogy transforms abstract theories in the humanities discipline into culturally familiar experiences, helping students engage more deeply with the content being taught in classrooms. Insights from the literature indicate that storytelling activates prior knowledge, sparks curiosity and supports both cognitive and emotional learning, breaking down the barriers created by dense academic language. The study concludes that integrating indigenous narratives offers a culturally significant and decolonial approach to teaching, where understanding takes precedence over linguistic complexity. It recommends incorporating storytelling more intentionally into Sub-Saharan African Humanities curricula to rethink and enrich pedagogical frameworks. The study concludes by proposing a framework that positions storytelling as capable of performing the functions of knowledge dissemination, cultural assertion and decolonisation within Sub-Saharan Africa’s Humanities classrooms.