Using personal narratives to explore multiple identities in organisational contexts

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore and incorporate personal narratives as a new methodological tool into the qualitative research of complex organisational issues such as identity. Particularly, this study provides a fresh methodological perspective on organisational identity exploration by using personal narratives to examine multiple identities that occur in dynamic organisational contexts. Design/methodology/approach In order to examine multiple identities, personal narratives found in the 43 semi-structured in-depth interviews collected were analysed. These narratives were examined following a textual and performative analysis. Findings The paper furthers methodological discussions in organisations in three ways. First, it responds to the need for a methodological approach that allows multiple identity exploration in organisations while it presents personal narratives as a valuable methodological perspective within organisational research. Second, it extends the methodological use of personal narratives for the in-depth qualitative study of complex organisational issues such as identity. Finally, the study stretches the boundaries of mainstream organisational research by illustrating that personal narratives can be used as a methodological approach to explore organisational identities. Originality/value This research integrates personal narratives as a methodological tool into the qualitative research of dynamic organisational issues. Employing personal narratives has allowed the exploration of multiple identities that take place in organisations in a manner not previously achieved in organisational studies. The study, therefore, challenges previous organisational research and expands the boundaries of organisational identity studies, offering a new qualitative methodological account for identity exploration in organisations

Intergenerational Narratives: The Personal is Professional

What began as a teacher-student relationship between educators Amy Brook Snider and Jodi Kushins has developed into a friendship and working partnership. At first, they did not consider their continuing long-distance connection as intergenerational. They shared experiences and exchanged ideas oblivious to the great difference in their ages. But as online tools, research, and communication emerged as a central focus of Jodi’s life and teaching, they became aware that this development might lead to an intergenerational digital divide between them. In order to explore their different responses to what has been called screen culture, they brought back their puppet alter egos for a presentation-cum-puppet show at the National Art Education Association conference in Chicago in 2016. This paper traces the history of the shifting relationship of two art educators, along with an extended excerpt from the script for their second puppet show

Pre-service teachers developing literacy identities

This paper highlights how individual literacy narratives influence pre‐service teacher literacy identities. Working with a diverse group of future literacy educators provides a challenge in negotiating and making sense of their personal literacy narratives and considering the impact this has on their literacy learning. Going beyond outcome measures and development of creative individuals (Stables, 2003) in their futures as literacy educators, we consider how to develop shared understandings of literacies within a university course context and how 'classroom' interactions and opportunities for dialogue not only develop literacy competencies, but allow for the meta-awareness of the personal literacy narratives that pre-service teachers bring to the teaching/learning context. Further to this, we consider how literacy identities can be developed through dialogue to help pre-service teachers make connections between authoritative pedagogies, pedagogy in the field and their personal literacy narratives to begin creating personal literacy pedagogies for the future

The affective resonance of personal narratives : creating a deeper experience of identity, empathy and historical understanding : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Museum Studies, Massey University, Palmerston North, Aotearoa, New Zealand

As the world plunges into the depths of a modern state of ‘anti-tradition’ (Trueman, 1998), there is a pervasive fear of a future void of empathy (Manney, 2008). The latter, believed to be partially propagated by a decline in exposure to diverse narratives, can be ameliorated through the identification and dissemination of genres which generate affect and humility (Berlant, 2008). The key question this thesis aims to address is; how do personal narratives create affective resonance which encourages the propagation of advantageous outcomes. I argue that personal narratives have the capacity to generate strong affective resonance within their recipients and tellers. Affective resonance, born from universality which create ‘intimate publics spheres’ (Berlant, 2008), has a potent ability for self-reflection and identity growth (Abrams, 2010, Sklar, 2009), empathic responses and action (Gallese & Wojciehowski, 2011; Fiske, 2008), and for developing rich multi-dimensional landscapes of historical understanding (Kosyaeva, Rowe and Wertsch, 2002). The research is based, firstly, on a broad transdisciplinary theoretical framework which comprises literature from diverse disciplines: oral history (Thompson, 2009), literary theory (Weinstein, 2007), philosophy (Benjamin, 1936; de Certeau, 1984) and neuroscience (Gallese & Wojciehowski, 2011). Secondly, Heritage New Zealand’s storytelling website High Street Stories provides the case study through which to investigate participant responses of affect, self-reflection and historical understanding. Through synthesis and analysis of the framework, in conjunction with the case study, a rich expository illustration of personal narratives and their cache of positive outcomes is presented. This dissertation is located in Museum Studies opening a space for the consideration of this multi-disciplinary literature and its connection to affect theory. Furthermore, as a crucial tool for museological practice, personal narratives, through their ‘germinative powers’ (Benjamin, 1936), have the propensity to impart a holistic, multi-dimensional understanding of history, rendering ordinary people as agents and subjects

Repairing Tales from Japan: Changes Over Time in Personal Narratives

At two different times, Time 1 and Time 2, 13 participants in Japan (8 Japanese and 5 Americans) were asked to spontaneously respond in English to this prompt: "Tell me about one of the most exciting or dangerous moments in your life." The Japanese responded during their first and fourth years of college, which involved an interval of 42 months. The Americans were native speakers of English and responded earlier and later in their one year study abroad program in Japanese language and culture. Three questions addressed by this paper were the following: (a) What types of topics and narrative structures characterize these 26 stories? (b) What types of speaker-initiated repairs appear, and are the repairs the same or different at Time 1 and Time 2? (c) How are the repairs related to different listener (American, Japanese, Filipino, and Taiwanese) assessments of the intelligibility of the narratives

A Naturalistic Study of Narrative: Exploring the Choice and Impact of Adversity Versus Other Narrative Topics

Objective: Many narrative interventions require participants to write about trauma and adverse experiences, but some research suggests that open-ended topic prompts can also be effective. In this study, we investigated the topics participants chose to write about in a values-narrative program that offered wide discretion in topic and theme, and explored how that was associated with perceptions of investment and impact. Method: Participants were 717 individuals (68% women) from the rural South, United States who had participated in a values-narrative program. Results: Almost half of the narratives (44%) focused on an adverse experience as part of the development of their personal values. Other personal stories were also common (37%), and only 19% wrote a narrative not connected to a personal life experience. Participants who had more exposure to family or peer victimization were more likely to write about adversity. Participants who wrote about adversity and shared their narratives with others reported more positive and fewer negative impacts. Encouragement and more time writing were also associated with better outcomes. Conclusion: When given the choice of essay topic, participants who chose to write about an adverse event were likely to have had a more meaningful writing experience. Values narratives offer a potentially important opportunity for incorporating narrative into primary prevention programs, because they can be used with groups that include individuals who have and have not experienced adversity. Narratives have been shown to be a powerful psychological intervention and expanding to primary prevention holds considerable promise. Further, they do not require prior disclosure of adversity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved

Evaluating Engagement in Digital Narratives from Facial Data

Engagement researchers indicate that the engagement level of people in a narrative has an influence on people's subsequent story-related attitudes and beliefs, which helps psychologists understand people's social behaviours and personal experience. With the arrival of multimedia, the digital narrative combines multimedia features (e.g. varying images, music and voiceover) with traditional storytelling. Research on digital narratives has been widely used in helping students gain problem-solving and presentation skills as well as supporting child psychologists investigating children's social understanding such as family/peer relationships through completing their digital narratives. However, there is little study on the effect of multimedia features in digital narratives on the engagement level of people. This research focuses on measuring the levels of engagement of people in digital narratives and specifically on understanding the media effect of digital narratives on people's engagement levels. Measurement tools are developed and validated through analyses of facial data from different age groups (children and young adults) in watching stories with different media features of digital narratives. Data sources used in this research include a questionnaire with Smileyometer scale and the observation of each participant's facial behaviours

Life as itinerary: tourism, personal narratives and gratification in a culture of the continuous present.

It is argued that the proliferation of personal communications technology is effecting a change in the condition of life. Usage of these devices sequesters personal time and removes delay, with negative consequences for gratification. The ‘culture of the continuous present’ draws an analogy with the present tense in the English language: the simple present, ‘I do’, gives ground to a continuous present, ‘I am doing’, wherein the mind is engaged and unavailable for reverie, anticipation and recollection. Life, it is suggested, is analogous with a journey, punctuated by ‘landmark’ experiences by which individuals construct personal narratives and thereby make sense of their lives. Gratification in life thrives on anticipation and thus depends on delay, but is threatened by a growing culture of instant gratification. The proliferation of ‘happiness’ surveys may be secondary evidence of this problem. Tourism is largely insulated from these changes: trips are the subject of daydreams, and require planning; they are long in duration, and recorded photographically; are remembered long afterwards; and are thus powerful contributors to personal narratives. Tourism, therefore, enjoys augmented salience in a culture in which gratification is otherwise compromised

Argument from Personal Narrative: A Case Study of Rachel Moran's Paid For: My Journey Through Prostitution

Personal narratives can let us in on aspects of reality which we have not experienced for ourselves, and are thus important sources for philosophical reflection. Yet a venerable tradition in mainstream philosophy has little room for arguments which rely on personal narrative, on the grounds that narratives are particular and testimonial, whereas philosophical arguments should be systematic and transparent. I argue that narrative arguments are an important form of philosophical argument. Their testimonial aspects witness to novel facets of reality, but their argumentative aspects help us to understand those facets for ourselves. My argument takes the form of a case study of the exemplary narrative argument penned by Rachel Moran, a former prostitute who uses her experiences to argue that prostitution amounts to sexual abuse. We’ll see that narrative arguments can enjoy expository Advantages over analytic ones