Tashianna Avery Literature Review

Tashianna Avery

Narrative Learning-Group 2

EDAC 634

                                Narrative Learning Literature Review

Tashianna Avery	commented on: Kristi Burkhart
Tashianna Avery	commented on: Kathie McMahon

Introduction

We have all heard the story about the tortoise and the hare and learned that slow and steady wins the race. This lesson, like many was taught through story and is an example of narrative learning. Merriam, Caffarella, & Baumgartner tell us that we live in a world of stories. Everything from the news, movies, books, social media, and music we listen to contain them. Stories are a part of who we are as human beings. Our experiences begin our narrative and our learning process. As we process our daily lives, “we make sense of our experiences by storying them, by constructing narratives that make things cohere” (Clark and Rossiter, 2008). There are three elements to the narrative learning process; hearing the narrative, telling the narrative, and recognizing the connection between the narrative and our lives.

Narratives are a great learning tool and in practice are used as case studies, journaling, and autobiographies. Whether we are hearing a story, sharing a story, or writing stories we are forming connections from the narrative to our personal experiences to make sense of our chaotic lives and develop our identity.

General Themes

Identity

Narratives are an important part of the human experience. We not only tell stories about what happens to us, but also about who we are. We were all children once with different goals and perspectives than we have now. The theme of identity is emphasized by several adult educators. In Re-Storying Life as a Means of Critical Reflection: The Power of Narrative Learning, Foote says, “Identity construction is rooted in the stories humans believe about themselves. Change the story, change the human’s identity” (2015). Clark and Rossiter agree saying, “Narrative is also how we craft our sense of self, our identity” (2008). As cited by Clark, “Yuval-Davis expands on the idea: “Identities are narratives, stories people tell themselves and others about who they are (and who they are not). But these identities are never fixed; they are dynamic and fluid, always producing itself through the combined processes of being and becoming, belonging and longing to belong” (Clark, 2010).

Human beings are complex creatures; in our complexity we portray ourselves differently at different moments. In those moments, we are retelling our narrative. Clark and Rossiter recognize this, “The life narrative is repeatedly revised and enlarged throughout one’s life to accommodate new insights, events, and perspectives” (2008). In these new insights, there are narratives and counter narratives. A counter narrative is a story developed to help us manage a situation in our lives. For example, when someone receives a life altering diagnosis, their counter narrative may become one of healing instead of grief. Through this counter narrative they are retelling their story and making sense of their experience.

Meaning Making

Stories are powerful and have the ability to “draw us into an experience at more than a cognitive level; they engage our spirit, our imagination, our heart, and this engagement is complex and holistic” (Clark and Rossiter, 2008). Why am I here? What is my purpose? Why did this happen? These are questions humans ask inquiring about the meaning of life and our human experience. Our world is shaped by stories, “surrounded by narratives of all kinds that embody our cultural values—popular movies and television shows, myths and folklore, religious histories and traditions, social scripts and more, to note only a few—and that all of these provide “libraries of plots . . . [that] help us interpret our own and other people’s experience” (Clark, 2008). When 0we hear a story, “We must fill in, from our own store of knowing, that which is unspoken. In so doing, we create as well as discover meaning, and we pose the questions we ourselves need to answer” (Rossiter, 2015). Stories help us make sense of our lives.

Learning through narratives

Have you ever met anyone who does not love a good story? “Humans are storytelling beings. Throughout the ages, humans have passed down culture, traditions, beliefs, values, and experiences via narrative accounts. Thus, narratives have been a primary means of knowledge impartation and acquisition since the beginning of time” (Foote, 2015). We learn through stories by listening, retelling, and connecting with the narrative.

When someone is listening to a story, they must receive it and interpret it. “Stories are powerful precisely because they engage learners at a deeply human level” (Clark and Rossiter, 2008). The best stories have the power to take us away and make us feel like we are in the story. They can connect with us in a way that reminds us of an experience or make us feel like we have had that experience even if we have not.

When we tell stories, we have become the narrator or actor instead of the listener. When we are the actor, we have done more than heard the story; we have made a connection between the story and our lives. It is at this moment that learning occurs. When the learner understands on a personal level, they become more engaged. The learning material makes more sense. It can be applied to their life enabling them to gain more from it.

“Recognizing stories, is more abstract. It presumes that learners begin to understand the fundamental narrative character of experience. As they gain understanding, they also begin to understand that they themselves are narratively constituted and narratively positioned; this applies to themselves personally, as well as to groups, societies, and cultures” (Clark and Rossiter, 2008). Familiar stories, like that of the tortoise and the hare, become a part of our own narrative. They become part of the narrative of school children everywhere and an integral part of our culture.

Narrative Power

Stories are powerful. They can transport the learner. They are not only used as a way to craft identity and make sense of experiences, but to teach. Cherry believes that using story in practice go hand in hand with collaboration, critical thinking, communication, and creativity (2017). Rossiter says, the uses of “narrative and story in adult teaching and learning are literally unlimited because they arise from infinite expressions of interpretive interplay among teachers, learners, and content” (2002).

Common ways of using narrative to teach include journaling, autobiographies, and case studies. “Writing leads to learning and growth as it enables the adult student to bring a sense of order to life, to highlight moments of decision, to bring closure to painful events, and to gain insight into their own development” (Rossiter, 2002). Rossiter and Clark agree, saying “When learners journal, students create a conversation between themselves and the material they’re learning, and they construct a text which itself becomes an object of reflection that enables them to examine their own learning process. The openness of the journal encourages students to engage with the material not only cognitively but also affectively. It becomes an iterative process of construction in which students weave old and new ideas together, connect what they’re learning to prior experience and with personal beliefs and assumptions, and through all this generate new questions that stimulate further learning” (Clark and Rossiter, 2008). As one goes back and reads through their learning process, they gain important insights into themselves.

The purpose of an autobiography is self-reflection with the goal of greater understanding of self. “Autobiographies can be concept focused, asking learners to use their perspective to understand the topic. The writing process thereby offers students a means of reframing their perspectives, reshaping their worldviews, and reassessing their lives as a means of cognitive, affective, and spiritual development that leads to an expanded consciousness and an integrated personality. Through such reflection, the learner identifies the inaccuracies of former assumptions and beliefs; this process leads to a revision of meaning schemes, habits of mind, and mindsets, leaving the learner permanently changed” (Foote, 2015).

Case studies are used in the classrooms as a way for learners explore real life situations. Case studies allow for students that have had similar experiences to connect to that experience and share that experience with others. They also allow those that have not had the experience to do so vicariously through the characters in the story.

Implications

Based on the themes explained above I suggest practitioners allow learners to use their own narratives to connect to the content as much as possible. Ask when, what, how, where, and why encouraging learners to connect to the material. Narratives are a part of who we are, how we present ourselves to the world, and how we make sense of our world. Everyone has a story to tell. Use their story so that they are connected and have ownership in their learning. Ask learners to think of a time when they faced something in relation to the material. Ask them to think about themselves from childhood to now. How have their perspectives, attitudes, and identity changed? Ask them to write down their thoughts and share them so that those thoughts are challenged, and the possibility of new perspectives is gained. Encourage learners to question everything. Ask them to imagine, to transport themselves into the case study. Invite them to embody the story.

Reflection

Learning about narrative learning has been an interesting journey that led me to reflect on my human experience and identity. I didn’t realize how immersed we are in stories. We share stories to prove a point, to explain, to entertain and so much more. When we hear stories, we connect emotionally. When hearing the stories of others, I often hear myself say “I understand, I can relate, that happened to me once”. Hearing stories, jumpstarts thoughts and causes connections without us realizing that learning is taking place.

When my family and friends tell me about their experiences, I feel it with them. When I think about my favorite shows and the characters I like; I get upset when they have been wronged and I am excited when something good happens to them. When something happens, I cannot wait to share my stories with others. Sometimes when I feel overwhelmed it is difficult to isolate each situation. Once it is on paper, it all seems to make sense.

For this assignment I used OneSearch to find sources, I looked at the examples provided, referred to the guidelines (often), and gave myself enough time for drafts and rewrites. I would suggest writing the review little by little giving yourself time to read, organize, and write out your thoughts.

Table:

	The main themes (The ideas summarized from the literature)	Implications (How to apply the main ideas in practice)
Theme 1:	Identity-humans use narratives to tell others who they are and who they are not	Allow learners to share their stories
Theme 2:	Meaning making-narratives are developed after an experience to try to make sense of the experience	Encourage learners to write in a journal or write an autobiography. Encourage them to ask questions and find connections.
Theme 3:	Learning through narrative-hearing, sharing, and recognizing	Provide opportunity for learners to hear, tell, and connect with stories by sharing their narratives with others
Theme 4:	Narrative power- narratives are an important part of the human experience. Because of this, they are a great tool for learning. Journaling, autobiographies, and case studies are common techniques used to promote narrative learning	Writing and discussion open the door to reevaluate perspectives and assumptions. Allow learners to write and reflect on that writing. Create a prompt to encouraging learners to find a connection between the learners experience and the story.

References:

Cherry, W. R., Jr. (2017). Our Place in the Universe: The Importance of Story and Storytelling in the Classroom. Knowledge Quest, 46(2), 50-55.

Clark, M. C. (2010). Narrative learning: Its contours and its possibilities. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 2010(126), 3-11. doi:10.1002/ace.367

Foote, L. S. (2015). Re-Storying Life as a Means of Critical Reflection: The Power of Narrative Learning. Christian Higher Education, 14(3), 116-126. doi:10.1080/15363759.2015.1028580

Merriam, S. B., Caffarella, R. S., & Baumgartner, L. M. (2008). Learning in Adulthood: a Comprehensive Guide. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Rossiter, M. (2002). Narrative and stores in adult teaching and learning. ERIC Digest, 1-8.