Hi Jeffrey,
Let me quickly recommend one book that provides an excellent critique of the kind of "knowledge society/economy/worker" discourse that has become so dominant as of late. This book is innocuously titled The Information Society: An Introduction. By Armand Mattelart (from Sage).
it is a great read!
-norm
Norm Friesen
Posts made by Norm Friesen
Hi all.
Thanks for some really interesting questions and contributions on the matter of narrative research.
A brief way of summarizing one of the key points in the discussion of narrative is that it helps us focus on micro-narratives to understand what is going on or what can go on in different contexts. It does this instead of emphasizing generalizable meta-narratives related to the "impact" of technology on education and to the story of technological progress more generally. (For a slightly different take on the narrative of Lisa and the way it fits with other ideas in the book, you can check out a slidecast of a presentation I gave last week in Quebec: http://learningspaces.org/n/node/35)
On to Critical Theory & E-learning: Some of the most important points I make in my chapter/article about critical theory and e-learning (see: http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/volume_9/v9i22_friesen.html) are not unrelated to what I say about narrative. Both emphasize the importance of focusing on marginalized rather than dominant discourses and information sources; both privilege the realization that any particular experience will depart from grandiose claims about technological efficiency, inevitability and ubiquity (to give just two examples.)
So, I look forward to your questions and thoughts on the application of critical theory in e-learning research. So far, it has been an enriching experience!
Also, if you don't get around to reading the article/chapter on critical theory, you can listen to a short podcast of an interview I gave last spring in New Zealand: http://www.massey.ac.nz/~jdmilne/norm_20march09.mp3 It covers at least part of the material in the chapter.
See you online, and happy thanksgiving to our American colleagues!
-Norm
Thanks for some really interesting questions and contributions on the matter of narrative research.
A brief way of summarizing one of the key points in the discussion of narrative is that it helps us focus on micro-narratives to understand what is going on or what can go on in different contexts. It does this instead of emphasizing generalizable meta-narratives related to the "impact" of technology on education and to the story of technological progress more generally. (For a slightly different take on the narrative of Lisa and the way it fits with other ideas in the book, you can check out a slidecast of a presentation I gave last week in Quebec: http://learningspaces.org/n/node/35)
On to Critical Theory & E-learning: Some of the most important points I make in my chapter/article about critical theory and e-learning (see: http://www.acm.org/ubiquity/volume_9/v9i22_friesen.html) are not unrelated to what I say about narrative. Both emphasize the importance of focusing on marginalized rather than dominant discourses and information sources; both privilege the realization that any particular experience will depart from grandiose claims about technological efficiency, inevitability and ubiquity (to give just two examples.)
So, I look forward to your questions and thoughts on the application of critical theory in e-learning research. So far, it has been an enriching experience!
Also, if you don't get around to reading the article/chapter on critical theory, you can listen to a short podcast of an interview I gave last spring in New Zealand: http://www.massey.ac.nz/~jdmilne/norm_20march09.mp3 It covers at least part of the material in the chapter.
See you online, and happy thanksgiving to our American colleagues!
-Norm
Hi Jeffrey,
I'm thinking that the idea of personal narratives could perhaps be developed further along the lines of "participatory" research and design.
Instead of seeing the introduction of technology as a "top-down" process in which the final details of user adaptations and improvisations are viewed as secondary or tertiary, these user actions could be viewed as essential to the technology. Individual narratives and feedback could be gathered as data that could be analyzed according to interpretive frameworks (that refer to categories from other analyses of plot, of personal or institutional change, etc.). Then the results could be used to actually inform decision making about technologies (and even their design, in the case of software).
This is one possibility of a future direction.
-Norm
I'm thinking that the idea of personal narratives could perhaps be developed further along the lines of "participatory" research and design.
Instead of seeing the introduction of technology as a "top-down" process in which the final details of user adaptations and improvisations are viewed as secondary or tertiary, these user actions could be viewed as essential to the technology. Individual narratives and feedback could be gathered as data that could be analyzed according to interpretive frameworks (that refer to categories from other analyses of plot, of personal or institutional change, etc.). Then the results could be used to actually inform decision making about technologies (and even their design, in the case of software).
This is one possibility of a future direction.
-Norm
Hi, All.
Another question I wanted to be sure to answer was the way that Lyotard's notion of meta-narratives is supposed to fit into the overall argument.
The way that I've been thinking of meta-narrative is that it represents an overarching story that we can attach our own little narratives to. Religion or a belief in history as the unfolding of scientific progress provides these kinds of narratives that allow the humble (tiny?) story of one person or one set of events to be integrated into. They give sense to stories or events that would otherwise be struggling for meaning --or even tragically devoid of significance. If I thought that scientific and human progress (or class struggle) were leading to a better world for all, then I could situate my own story, struggles and challenges in that context.
The problem, Lyotard says, is that these large overarching meta-narratives no longer hold today. That can be seen as a good thing, since we are no longer justifying things like wars or other tragedies as somehow being the necessary "cost" of achieving progress, as attaining some kind of final utopia or as a "war to end all wars."
This may sound rather abstract and general, but it is important to think about. If we no longer have a meta-narrative of technical progress in general, we also need to be critical and reflective about any automatic assumptions that technological progress is the answer for education.
But Lyotard says that in the absence of these metanarratives, we need to actually pay more rather than less attention to narratives --specifically to humble narratives of individuals and everyday struggles. That is where the idea of the micro narrative comes in. Lyotard says that we should focus on, reflect on and even celebrate these small, "provisional, contingent, temporary, and relative" narratives (Barry, 2002, p. 87).
He says that "Each of us lives at the intersection of many of these" micro-narratives, and that these can tell us a great deal about our world and ourselves.
I welcome more questions and thoughts!
-nORM
Another question I wanted to be sure to answer was the way that Lyotard's notion of meta-narratives is supposed to fit into the overall argument.
The way that I've been thinking of meta-narrative is that it represents an overarching story that we can attach our own little narratives to. Religion or a belief in history as the unfolding of scientific progress provides these kinds of narratives that allow the humble (tiny?) story of one person or one set of events to be integrated into. They give sense to stories or events that would otherwise be struggling for meaning --or even tragically devoid of significance. If I thought that scientific and human progress (or class struggle) were leading to a better world for all, then I could situate my own story, struggles and challenges in that context.
The problem, Lyotard says, is that these large overarching meta-narratives no longer hold today. That can be seen as a good thing, since we are no longer justifying things like wars or other tragedies as somehow being the necessary "cost" of achieving progress, as attaining some kind of final utopia or as a "war to end all wars."
This may sound rather abstract and general, but it is important to think about. If we no longer have a meta-narrative of technical progress in general, we also need to be critical and reflective about any automatic assumptions that technological progress is the answer for education.
But Lyotard says that in the absence of these metanarratives, we need to actually pay more rather than less attention to narratives --specifically to humble narratives of individuals and everyday struggles. That is where the idea of the micro narrative comes in. Lyotard says that we should focus on, reflect on and even celebrate these small, "provisional, contingent, temporary, and relative" narratives (Barry, 2002, p. 87).
He says that "Each of us lives at the intersection of many of these" micro-narratives, and that these can tell us a great deal about our world and ourselves.
I welcome more questions and thoughts!
-nORM
Hi, all.
thanks for your patience in waiting for me to get back to my desk and my thoughts ('been to Quebec City & Vancouver in the last little while).
Let me first try to answer the question as to how I analyze the narrative data: My techniques in this regard are fairly organic; I just used MSWord to find and flag up important parts. I first look at those parts (in a hard copy of the transcript) that correspond to parts of the interview that I remember as being especially rich.
In looking for things that are important, I use the categories of narrative or plot stages (exposition, crisis, evaluation, etc.) to categorize different parts of the transcript (at least in my mind). What appeared especially important were moments of transition between one part or another, or even a short passage (a paragraph) that on its own represented a coda, crisis or some other short plot element on its own. It was at these points where some of the most important elements come to the fore. For example, I quote in the chapter/article the passage that presents a kind of turning point (crisis, denouement) in the narrative. This is where Lisa mentally goes through a list of aspects of class blogging that address her priorities or values as a teacher.
I looked for parts like these where Lisa comes to the fore as an actor or agent in her setting, and where she explains the motivation about her situation, her actions and their consequences.
I hope this helps
-N
thanks for your patience in waiting for me to get back to my desk and my thoughts ('been to Quebec City & Vancouver in the last little while).
Let me first try to answer the question as to how I analyze the narrative data: My techniques in this regard are fairly organic; I just used MSWord to find and flag up important parts. I first look at those parts (in a hard copy of the transcript) that correspond to parts of the interview that I remember as being especially rich.
In looking for things that are important, I use the categories of narrative or plot stages (exposition, crisis, evaluation, etc.) to categorize different parts of the transcript (at least in my mind). What appeared especially important were moments of transition between one part or another, or even a short passage (a paragraph) that on its own represented a coda, crisis or some other short plot element on its own. It was at these points where some of the most important elements come to the fore. For example, I quote in the chapter/article the passage that presents a kind of turning point (crisis, denouement) in the narrative. This is where Lisa mentally goes through a list of aspects of class blogging that address her priorities or values as a teacher.
So I got to thinking well okay...many things: [My ESL students] love the computers, they want to use the computers, in the future and in their academic courses they’re going to have to ...
I looked for parts like these where Lisa comes to the fore as an actor or agent in her setting, and where she explains the motivation about her situation, her actions and their consequences.
I hope this helps
-N