Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgia State University, 2005. / Title from title screen. Peggy Albers, committee chair; Joyce Many, Dana Fox, Sheryl Gowen, committee members. Electronic text (294 p.). Description based on contents viewed May 15, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 280-294).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Syracuse University, 1989. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.I.T.)--The Evergreen State College, 2010. / Title from title screen (viewed 7/7/2010). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 131-136).

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master’s Degree in Technology: Graphic Design, Durban University of Technology, 2013. / In this critically reflective self-study I have illustrated how my research in the field of Graphic design has been purposeful in creating a visual voice to express myself, improve my practice as an artist, teacher, and visual activist and in turn create an alternate voice for others. My study includes the conceptualization of the pictographic cards that I have named PicTopics, their value as an educational tool and their pertinence as visual prompts. My research questions have included exploring the role of the PicTopics in communicating a story or message, and how they could be pertinent to my practice as an artist, researcher, teacher and social being. My methodology, under the umbrella of self-study, has explored the living social, educational, and artistic values associated with fun, playing, creativity and wellbeing as a way to improve my practice. I used the PicTopic in a variety of settings - with the public at an art gallery to record their stories, in the classroom as creative prompts and as a way to inspire and conceptualize the practical artistic component of this study. I believe that the PicTopics when used as prompts can trigger and cultivate storytelling, enable engagement between people and open communication channels between the educator, and students. The PicTopics have become a thread between my living theories which are linked with my values and beliefs, my practice as an artist and my role as an educator and social transformer.

This phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of three music teachers who are invited to view themselves and their practices as “becoming” in the context of Maxine Greene’s philosophy of education. In communion with my own becoming as teacher and researcher, I explore the aspects of my participants’ musical and teaching identities over the course of their careers and in relation to their unique teaching contexts. Throughout this project, I explored qualities of resonance, striving, a sense of artistic “re-capturing,” wide-awakeness, social imagination, and courage. I came to understand that stories play an important role in shaping our perceptions of reality and awareness of the lived lives of the “other” as we strive together toward a more just society through artistic encounters in education.

Over the years, many studies have been shown that storytelling plays a significant role in vocabulary acquisition (Speaker, Taylor, & Kamen, 2004). My research focused on vocabulary development in native and bilingual English speaking kindergartners through storytelling. Findings from this study of storytelling that revealed a positive relationship between the number of occurrences to words in the story and the vocabulary development as well as the positive relationship between the numbers of exposures to the storybooks and the vocabulary development are presented. Findings also confirmed that older kindergartners acquired more new vocabulary compared with the younger group kindergartners. The kindergartners who were all non readers listened to stories over a two week period by a professional storyteller. The kindergartners listened to the first story only once in the first week and completed a multiple-choice vocabulary posttest immediately thereafter. This test included 5 unfamiliar words from the story. The second storybook was read twice in the following week, two days apart and a multiple-choice vocabulary posttest with a different set of 5 unfamiliar words was presented after the second time the story was read. Three weeks after this, a delayed posttest with the 10 words were administered. There were 10 target words throughout the 2 stories. Only one target word appeared in both stories, once in Story 1 and twice in Story 2. Likewise, 4 target words appeared once in Story 1 and the other set of 4 target words appeared once in Story 2. There was 1 target word (not heard word) which had not read to the kindergartners in each of the story. As expected, the scores on the second multiple-choice vocabulary posttest was higher than the first multiple-choice vocabulary posttest because children vocabulary acquisition increased with the numbers of the exposures to story and the number of occurrences to words in the story. Nevertheless, storytelling would have no benefits on children’s vocabulary acquisition if words were not being delivered or told to the children, whereas the number of occurrences of the story read increased. Findings in the present study proved that reading the same story at least twice and more exposures to words contributed the positive influence to kindergartners’ vocabulary growth. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

Imbued with the potential to foster transformative spaces, improvisation in music can be a powerful practice but, even more largely, a unique way of being human. However, many teachers from Western classical music traditions struggle with improvisation and including it in their classroom experiences. This dissertation questioned how conceptualizations of music improvisation influence and inform this struggle through a praxis of storying experience and reflexive action. Five music educators, including the author, met over eight months for collective group improvisation and storytelling followed by conversations that involved cyclical stages of video-stimulated recall and re-storying. Using a narrative inquiry framework shaped by ethnographic and autoethnographic influences, this research conveyed what happened while challenging conceptions of improvised music through re-storying the past, the action of improvising, and reflexive action through storying the experience. The study revealed barriers to feeling comfortable with improvising, including a systemic siloing of improvisers and non-improvisers within Western music traditions, feelings of shame shaped by harmful expectations of musical ability, and experiences with closed systems of end-in-means pedagogical approaches and assessment practices. This research showed that the process of reflecting on conceptualizations of improvisation to feel more comfortable with the practice takes time and that experiencing breaks, or shimmers of understanding, rather than breakthroughs, still afforded space for transformation. The broader implications for music education include striving for approaches that teach rather than train improvisation and embracing commonalities between narrative ways of knowing and expression of self and connection through improvisation.

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis investigates stop motion animation as a form of socially engaged visual storytelling. It aims to expand commonly held perceptions that associate animation with the mass media and entertainment industries by investigating three non-industry related contexts: the artist studio, the classroom and the community. In each respective context the coauthoring of stop motion animation was employed as a means to promote collaboration between artists, students and members of the public. This was intended to encourage participants to share their stories regardless of language differences, contrasting levels of academic development and diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. Thus, animation making provided a means of promoting inclusivity through active participation and visual communication. This process is perceived as valuable in a South African context where eleven official languages and a diversity of cultures and ethnicities tend to obstruct an integrated society. My fundamental argument is that animation can be used as a tool to facilitate the materialisation, dissemination and archiving of stories whilst promoting the creative agency of the storyteller. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie tesis ondersoek stop-aksie animasie as ‘n tipe van sosiaal-geaktiveerde visuele vertelkuns. Die studie is daarop gerig om algemene aannames oor animasie – wat animasie assosieer met die massamedia en die vermaaklikheidsindustrie – te verbreed deur drie nienywerheidsverbonde kontekste te ondersoek: die kunstenaar se ateljee, die klaskamer en die gemeenskap. In elk van die onderskeie kontekste word die gesamentlike skepping van die stop-aksie animasie gebruik as ‘n manier om samewerking tussen kunstenaars, studente en die algemene publiek te bevorder. Die doel is om deelnemers aan te moedig om hul stories te deel, ongeag taalverskille, verskillende vlakke van akademiese ontwikkeling, en diverse sosio-kulturele agtergronde. Daarom verskaf die skepping van animasie ‘n geleentheid om samewerking te bevorder deur aktiewe deelname en visuele kommunikasie. Die proses word veral in die Suid Afrikaanse konteks as waardevol beskou, waar elf amptelike tale, asook ‘n diversiteit van kulture en etniese groepe, dikwels die skep van ‘n geïntegreerde samelewing belemmer. My hoofargument is dat animasie met vrug gebruik kan word as ‘n metode om die skepping, disseminasie en argivering van stories te fasiliteer en terselfdertyd ook die kreatiewe rol van die storieverteller aan te moedig.

The aim of this study is to explore the introduction of IsiXhosa (iintsomi) as an alternative method in the maternal health education in rural Primary Health Care in the Eastern Cape. An informal preliminary observation of a maternal health lesson by the researcher indicated a further need for maternal health educators to introduce storytelling into the health content themes. To re-inforce the maternal health educator lesson on the causes of teenage pregnancy, lifestyles for pregnant women, causes of miscarriage and termination of pregnancy, the Community Health Workers can undoubtedly use isiXhosa iintsomi in selected clinics and maternal waiting homes. As a readily available resource that cuts across all literacy barriers, iintsomi (isiXhosa) fosters a cross-cultural consultation which enables the healthcare worker to convey messages that make sense to the rural women. While the conventional methods of teaching have a tendency to create tension and lack of participation, use of folktale (iintsomi) have huge potential to bring lesson enjoyment; a meaningful interaction and story sharing by the maternal health educator, the pregnant women and greater community; access to important health messages; and strengthened utilisation of Primary Health Care. The study therefore suggests that there is a place for isiXhosa iintsomi: From the Fireplace into the Workplace.

This dissertation presents the essence of the experience of instructional designers and instructors who have used alternate reality games (ARGs) and transmedia storytelling (TS) for teaching and learning. The use of game-like narratives, such as ARGs and TS, is slowly increasing. However, we know little about the lived experiences of those who have implemented such transmedia experiences in formal or informal learning. The data consists of written transcripts from interviews with 11 co-researchers in the United States and Europe. Phenomenology was the guiding methodology. The study begins by reviewing storytelling and the use of games in learning, leading up to exploring the tradition of using ARGs and TS in learning contexts. The analysis was one of reduction leading to codes, summary stories, themes, and the essence of the experience. Co-researchers used many techniques to enlighten their learners including problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, encouragement, disruption, and connection-making. When successful, connection-making facilitates learner agency development by providing learners with the power to act by their own initiative. Action came through the communicated narratives and games that closely tied to real-world problems. In the context of these efforts, this study's co-researchers emerged as educational life-world learning-coaches, "sensei", who were each using strategies and techniques to move students toward meaningful real-world learning and the ability to make a difference in the world. The dissertation closes by exploring implications of this study for instructional designers and instructors interested in using alternate reality games and transmedia storytelling for teaching and learning purposes.