Investigating Narrative Forms of Instruction

1. Investigating Narrative Forms of Instruction Joan Mazur, Henry Cole, Nancye McCrary, Kathleen Wagner University of Kentucky AECT 2001

2. Narrative Forms of Instruction: An Epistemological Starting Point • Epistemological starting point: Bruner (1986) distinguished between narrative and paradigmatic thought • Paradigmatic ways of knowing are algorithymic [rule-based systems]-- context free/universal • Narrative ways of knowing are embedded in stories, framing events over time through various cultural, social, and cognitive lenses -- context rich/dependent and particular

3. Narrative and Instruction • Narrative forms of instruction have evolved that support narrative ways of knowing. • What is narrative instruction? What are its elements and forms? What are the best instructional uses? What are the cognitive and affective benefits and drawbacks of using narrative approaches?

4. Narrative Instruction • Narrative instruction occurs when • Stories are specifically designed and developed to utilize elements of plot character, setting and theme • The learner is involved in a participatory and dialogic relationship with the story content • Meaningful learning outcomes result from the interaction between learner and story.

5. Narrative Forms of Instruction • While by no means exhaustive narrative forms of instruction include: • Cases (Sykes and Bird, 1995) • Narrative Simulation (Cole, 1998) • Anchored Instruction (CTG, 1989) • Clinical Narratives (Benner, 1997) • Work Stories (Suchman, 1990)

6. Descriptive Dimensions of Narrative Forms of Instruction • Narrative Forms of Instruction can be described along several dimensions • Didacity- Instructionalist-Constructivist • Settings for the Narrative – Landscapes of Action/Landscapes of Consciousness. • Authenticity – Source of the Narrative • Media Form(s)- Discursive – Non-Discursive

7. Didacity Dimension • Directly related to the meaningful learning outcome • Located along an instructionalist-constructionalist continuum • Location along this dimension suggests levels of interaction (involvement) between learner and story

8. Setting Dimension • Bruner (1986)noted that narratives are set in two landscapes: • the landscape of action • Temporally patterned sequences of events and often (not always)reported as they might have appeared to anyone present • the landscape of consciousness • Devoted to how the world is percieved or felt by a cast of characters • Narratives are rarely set in only one landscape; most are primarily set in one that suggests cognitive or affective involvement

9. Authenticity Dimension • Actual Stories – accounts based on‘true’ or ‘real’ circumstances and events • Composites – based on combinative stories that highlight salient elements • Derived – fictional accounts based on actual data • Contrived – fictional accounts developed for specific purposes for which data is unavailable or inappropriate to the learning outcome

10. Media Form Dimension • Located along a continuum from discursive to non-discursive • Text only account • Text-audio accounts • Video only account • Multimedia accounts

11. Graphically Depicting Forms Narrative Instruction Along These Dimensions

12. Investigating Narrative Forms of Instruction • Researching narrative forms of instruction will require use of narrative methods of analysis • Development of assessments that capture the richness of narrative ways of knowing and that can be related to known cognitive, social, and affective aspects of learning

13. Narrative and Ideology • Designing Narrative Instruction is complicated by questions related to ideology. Stories are particularly powerful cultural tools and thus attention to ideology must be part of the design conversation • Who’s stories should be told? • How does privileging one story over another affect cultures of learning • The role of community in silencing multiple points of view