Echo theatre : from experience to performance

This research project investigates the characteristics of Echo Theatre, its potential to foster performative and narrative competencies in students, and the role of the teacher in this performative and educational practice. Echo Theatre is a method devised during my storytelling practice and this research confirms that there is no identical research or teaching practice which involves students staging personal narratives in the classroom in this way. The study has been informed by crossdisciplinary theory studies from the fields of phenomenology, cognitive sciences, and theatre practice. To analyse and discuss Echo Theatre's potential contribution to the development of the child I have defined the concept of a performative competence as well as redefined the concept of a narrative competence. The situated, embodied and performative character of human cognition is emphasised as physical actions and thinking in movement is related to both gestural and conceptual understandings. Studies in philosophy and psychology confirm that narrative structure, related to identity construction and meaning-­‐making, can be attained through the performing body. We tell stories to know who we are. Telling stories then in the Echo Theatre model develops multiple competencies related to the performative aspects of theatre practice as well as the narrative aspects of storytelling. The practice-­‐led aspect of this research project includes two fieldwork projects involving a primary school class who created sixteen different Echo Theatre stories. Student participation reveals that Echo Theatre is most constructive when it moves through five phases; recalled experience, narrative, drama, performance, and evaluation. Ongoing reflection is a part of all five phases. The study also confirms that while there is potential for Echo Theatre to support the development of performative and narrative competencies in students, the effectiveness of this directly relates to the teacher's theatre knowledge and skills and his or her didactic attitude towards the students. This study confirms that the potential for learning through the moving and performing body of Echo Theatre is strengthened by working with personal narratives in the classroom and led by teachers displaying heightened skills and knowledge of the aesthetics and dynamics of theatrical form.

Learning from minority: Exploring Irish Protestant experience

This paper, based on a narrative research inquiry, presents and explores a number of stories relating to the experience and identity of members of the small Irish Protestant minority. Drawing on these stories it uses Foucault’s conceptualisation of power and discourse to consider community, social withdrawal, and two different but linked expressions of silence as acts of resistance. These were simultaneously utilised to preserve a culture and ethos diametrically opposed to the religious and political hegemony of the Irish Catholic state and to combat the threat of extinction. The article concludes that an exploration of Ireland’s traditional religious minority not only raises awareness concerning a specific group’s experience but extends an understanding of the issues with which minorities (in more general terms) may have to cope in order to survive.

Patterns in personal experience narratives: storytelling at cod harbour - a Newfoundland fishing community

This study is concerned with storytelling as a part of the folk culture of a fishing community on the north east coast of Newfoundland. The study is based on field work done in the community throughout the summer of 1969 during which I tape recorded oral narratives along with other folklore and folklife material . The principal genre discussed is the personal experience narrative which is an account of the experiences of either the narrator, someone in his kin network, orhis friends. It was found that a large number of community residents communicate in narrative form and that the narratives function to substantiate conversation preceeding the narrativei have a didactic function; function as a means of entertainment~ and reflect the narrators' and the community's value system. The methods employed in collecting the material were the directive and the non-directive interview techniques and participant observation. Collecting was done mainly among fishermen between fifty and eighty years of age and who, on -the average, had not gone beyond the sixth grade in school. Since the narratives are so much a part of the environment, I give an account of the community culture. The principal things that I deal with are the community's history, economy, education, religion, and social life which includes rites of passage, calendar customs , social events, visiting patterns, and gossip. Information in each of these categories is based primarily on oral reports, narratives and documented materials. After a discussion of the storytelling process in the community, I deal specifically with four male narrators. For each I give biographical information, discuss his repertoire, telling situations, style, and give a sampling of his narratives. The fourth narrator is discussed in more detail than the first three. The narratives of the latter comprise the final chapter in the study, and have been analyzed to show what they tell us about the narrator's style, his value system, and the community culture.

Histórias de vida e formação de professores/as: diálogos entre Brasil e Portugal

A presente tese problematiza a formação de professores/as, buscando sentidos de uma racionalidade instituinte que incorpore a vida dos sujeitos, em toda sua complexidade existencial, como componente fundamental do processo formativo. Num contexto de investigação-formação, tomamos as biografias educativas de seis professoras do Primeiro Ciclo do Ensino Básico, em Portugal, e seis dos primeiros anos do Ensino Fundamental, no Brasil como uma alternativa teórico-metodológica na tematização da vida como espaço/tempo de formação. No desenvolvimento, encontramos vestígios de que o processo formador se torna inteligível numa perspectiva que entretece os diferentes episódios em tessitura, onde as intrigas são articuladas na experiência narrativa. Reafirmamos, também, o sentido da docência como "lugar de memória", a contribuição do registro da história de vida, transformando biografia em herança e a perspectiva dialógica da aprendizagem que se dá quando nos confrontamos com o outro de quem, dialecticamente, nos ligamos e nos distanciamos, mediados por desejos e desafios. ### Abstract - The present thesis discusses the formation of teachers, looking for senses of a founding rationality that incorporates the life of individuals in all its existential complexity as a fundamental component in the formation process. In an investigation-formation context, we took the educational biographies of six teachers from Portuguese Elementary Schools, and six teachers from Brazilian Elementary Schools, as a theoretical-methodological alternative on the theme of life as space/time of formation. In the development, we find indications that the formation process becomes comprehensible under a perspective that interlaces different episodes, where the intrigues are articulated in the experience narrative. We also reassert the teaching sense as being "the memory place", the registry contribution of life history, converting biography into legacy, and the learning dialogical perspective that happens when we confront ourselves with the other, from whom, dialectically speaking, we are close to and far-off, mediated by longings and challenges.

Os efeitos da intervenção no reconto e nas narrativas de experiência pessoal em crianças de idade pré-escolar

As competências narrativas emergem desde cedo, e vão sendo adquiridas ao longo do desenvolvimento da criança. No entanto não significa que se desenrolam do mesmo modo em todos as crianças pois crianças com dificuldades na produção narrativa poderão ter necessidade de um ensino específico e estruturado. Sendo a narrativa um aspeto importante da linguagem, é fundamental agir o mais cedo possível para prevenir futuros problemas, tanto no percurso académico como social. Tendo por base as questões em torno da produção narrativa, o presente estudo tem como objetivo compreender a influência da intervenção narrativa no reconto e nas narrativas de experiência pessoal em oito crianças do pré-escolar (5/6 anos), estando um dos participantes diagnosticado com uma condição do espetro do autismo. Ao longo do estudo, todos os participantes foram sendo avaliados pela escala Narrative Language Measures durante 10 sessões e quanto à intervenção narrativa denominada Campeões de histórias consistiu em 21 sessões com duração média de 25 minutos. Neste estudo recorremos ao delineamento experimental de linha de base múltipla, o que nos permitiu analisar o desempenho de cada participante ao longo do tempo. Os resultados revelaram que através da intervenção narrativa houve um aumento na cotação dos testes da escala em todos os participantes, inclusive na criança com condição do espetro autista, e que esses se mantiveram sempre acima dos níveis basais após um período de duas semanas sem intervenção. Deste modo, podemos concluir que a intervenção narrativa produziu efeitos relevantes quer no reconto, quer nas narrativas de experiência pessoal dos participantes e que se apresenta como uma intervenção económica, rápida e eficaz.

As construções adverbiais em mente: análise funcionalista e implicações para o ensino de língua materna

This research aims at investigating the constructions with adverbials in ly, based on the view of contemporaneous linguistic functionalism, such as proposed by Givón, Hopper, Thompson, Traugott, Furtado da Cunha, as well as the cognitivist notion of language, through construction grammar support upon the patterns of Goldberg and the prototypes theory. The cognitive functional approach adopted here considers the change as a proper and inherent phenomenon of language and understands the linguistic phenomenon as resulting from effective use of language. Another aspect to be considered to the realization of this study is the fact that the formation adjective + ly is a word construction mechanism really productive, which generates interests on linguistic description. In a particular way, our leading objective is to exam the constructions with adverbials in ly in the context of language in use, in its oral and written forms, looking for to apprehend the meaning multiple manifestations forged in the use. Bearing this in mind, we worked with data from the Corpus Discurso & Gramática (Natal). There are, in the data, adverbs ended in ly that take the signification of mode, as foreseen in traditional models, but there are also other significations, for instance, the modalizador in its different manifestations. The results show that this adverb is a linguistic mark that carries in its constitution the multissêmico and multifunctional character, which interferes extremely in the ordination of this category, assuming a position sometimes pre-verbal, sometimes post-verbal. Other aspect observed refers to the relationship between the adverb and the verb, with emphasis on the compatibility or restriction between them, option which is related to the semantic aspect. The data in analysis legitimate the use in different constructions with adverb ended in ly in various genres, as follows: personal experience narrative, retold narrative, local description, proceeding account, opinion account, both in oral as in written language

ME and Julie:a study in narrative of illness experience and therapy in a Myalgic Encephalomyelitis sufferer

This article uses what Atkinson and Walmsley (1997) refer to as an ‘autobiographical account’ to explore the themes and relationships between narrative, illness experience and therapy in a Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (ME) sufferer. Julie is a chronic ME sufferer, having lived with ME for the past 12 years. Her life-story over those years, as she presents it, casts our attention to the intrinsically personal nature of her ‘illness experience’ and to her distinctively artistic therapeutic responses to her condition. Julie’s autobiographical narrative reveals how ME has penetrated both her body and her sense of self, her limbs as well as her dreams; as though it were a parasite feeding off her fight to regain health. In terms of narrative, Julie’s ME illness progresses from past to present, but never to the future which lies beyond contemplation. Despite this denial of the future, Julie does think of ME as a liminal phase which is to be coped through. As both spatial object and temporal event, Julie conceptualises her ME variously, dealing with it on a day-to-day basis, increasingly turning to landscape painting as a form of escapism which parallels her former physical outward bound activities. This personal therapy, so this article concludes, constitutes both narrative performance and narrative text (as canvas), both of which can only cautiously be independently interpreted by the (inter)viewer.

A qualitative narrative inquiry of the experience of accessing community supports among women who have experienced trauma

Abuse related trauma can have serious consequences on individuals' health and their state of well-being and may result in decreased access to different determinants of health. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry using secondary data was to explore the experience of accessing community supports among eight women who had experienced abuse-related trauma. A conceptual framework drawn from the literature on social inclusion and social exclusion and a narrative inquiry method were used to explore epiphanies, customs, routines, images, and everyday experiences (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) among the women. A Three-Dimensional Space Narrative Structure was used to explore the participants' personal or internal conditions, feelings, hopes and reaction as well as their social experiences in interaction with others in community. The participants described experiencing the impact of trauma in their past and present circumstances, a lack of accommodation of difference, challenges in maintaining a sense of self in a world of assumption and labels, impact of trauma on the determinants of health, and uncertainty about the future. The findings from the study demonstrate experiences of social exclusion among the participants in the past, further isolation and social exclusion in the present when personal life issues were ignored by community support services, and uncertainty about what the future will bring for them. The findings indicate close relationships between the women's personal lives and their social connections which need to be considered to mitigate social exclusion and enhance social inclusion.

A journey into narrative inquiry : one teacher's lived experience with eating disorders /

In "A Journey Into Narrative Inquiry: One Teacher's Lived Experience With Eating Disorders," an elementary teacher searches for answers regarding how education can help prevent eating disorders by journeying into her own experience of having had such a disorder. This qualitative study is a personal narrative based on an individual's experience, a method appropriate to the sharing of personal voices and stories told in education research. It is an attempt to address the gap found in the research on this topic by offering a subjective and unique perspective of what it is like to live within the nightmare of an eating disorder and by sharing the wisdom gained from having survived such an experience. This narrative inquiry explains how a teacher found herself at a stage where she was willing and ready to share her experience for the sake of research. The story of having had an eating disorder, consisting of both anorexia and bulimia, for over a decade is shared in a genuine, reflective manner. The researcher then shares the analysis of her own story, unpacking the themes of journeying toward voice, self-esteem, self-acceptance, and self and the completion of an M.Ed. degree. Bridges are made which connect these themes to the personal and professional life of the researcher, to the schools in terms of both curriculum and climate, to research directions, and to the larger culture. Suggestions are made for possible changes in educational settings that may help teachers in providing students with some tools and strategies to prevent turning to eating disorders as coping mechanisms. A literature review of eating disorders is included as well, as a guide for others to use when undertaking such qualitative studies.

The story of fable : a narrative analysis of the experience of four registered nurses in their first year of practice

This research explores the transition from student to registered nurse from the perspective of the new graduate. This interpretive study uses narrative analysis as the methodology. Individual stories were collected and processed using the method of core story creation and emplotment (Emden 1998). Four newly registered nurses were invited to share stories related to how they were experiencing their role. Participants were encouraged to tell their stories in response to the open question 'what is it like to be a registered nurse?' In the final step of the analysis one honest and critical story has been crafted (Barone 1992) using a process termed emplotment thus disclosing the themes that allow the stories to be grasped together as a single story (Polkinghorne 1988, Emden 1998). The final story of 'Fable' gives insight into the ways in which newly registered nurses experience their role. Becoming a registered nurse is not easy however, Fable finds that nursing is more than just a job and describes many rewarding experiences. It is hoped that the outcomes of this research will be valuable to students, graduates, nurse academics and the profession of nursing generally by enhancing understandings of the relationship between the graduate and the actual employment experience.

Narrative Therapy and Stigma Management: Restorying the Patient Experience of Being Told, “You have MS

The purpose of this investigation was to determine if the way patients are informed of the diagnosis of multiple sclerosis (MS) affects their feelings about themselves as people with MS. Building on illness narrative, I hoped to examine how patients “storied” their experience of being informed of the diagnosis of MS and whether this “storying” had a lasting impact on their self-concept. The alternative would be that no connection exists between how a neurologist informs a patient of the diagnosis and how a person makes sense of their diagnosis and life with MS. Due to study limitations (e.g., small sample size, threat of response bias), the results are unclear about whether the way in which the news is broken has a lasting effect on patients' perceptions. However, review of the literature and patient responses indicate that there is a need for psychological intervention when patients are diagnosed with MS.