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Abstract: My inquiry, involving participant-observation and self-study, explores the stories of four older women through verbal and visual narratives. Showing how two specific types of visual narratives—sandpictures and collages—stimulate experiential story-telling and promote understanding about life experiences, I also illustrate how engagement with images extends learning and meaning-making. Effective in carrying life stories and integrating experience, the visual narratives also reveal archetypal imagery that is sustained and sustaining. Considering how visual narratives may be understood independently, I describe multiple strategies that worked for me for entering deeply into the images. I also elaborate on the relationship of visual narratives to accompanying verbal narratives, describing how tacit knowing may evolve. Through this process, I offer a framework for a curricular approach to visual narratives that involves feeling and seeing aesthetically and associatively and that provides a space for learners to express their individual stories and make meaning of significant life events. Salient narrative themes include confrontation with life-death issues, the experience of “creating a new life,” an avid early interest in books and learning, and a vital connection to the natural world. New professions after mid-life, creative expression, and volunteerism provide fulfillment and challenge as life changes promote attempts to marry relationships with self and others to work and service. My therapy practice room was the setting for five sessions, including an introduction, three experiential sandplay sessions, and a conclusion. Data derive from transcripts from free-flowing conversations, written narratives, photographs of sandpictures, and field notes written throughout the various phases of my doctoral process. This study of older women, with its emphasis on lifelong learning, visual narratives, and development of tacit knowing, will contribute to the field of narrative inquiry already strongly grounded in verbal narrative and teacher education/development. It may also promote in-depth investigations of male learners at a life stage of making meaning of, and integrating, their life experiences. New inquirers may note what I did and how it worked for me, and find their unique ways of extending the study of visual narratives while venturing into the broad field of diverse narrative forms.

The purpose of the current study is to better understand the experience of healing after childhood sexual abuse (CSA) through analysis of existing survivor narratives. Traditionally, study of CSA survivors has been approached from a point of view that categorizes their response to abuse a deficit or disorder. A recent movement in the study of CSA has been toward viewing CSA survivors in terms of resilience and healing. The current research study is informed from the social constructivist paradigm, and uses narrative and hermeneutics to gain a better understanding of healing from CSA by examining existing narratives of healing written by survivors. The method of narrative analysis employed is Lieblich Tuval-Mashiach & Zilber’s (1998) holistic-content approach. After interpreting each individual narrative, an overarching analysis was generated by interpretation of commonalities across memoirs. The narratives and my subsequent analysis of the narratives generated a storied construction of healing, organized into three themes: The Process of Transformation, From the Private to the Public, and Connecting to Others. The results are discussed in light of the socio-cultural and political landscapes, as well as in terms of the concept of self-compassion. Strengths and limitations of the study, as well as considerations for future research are considered

The aim with this research was to determine how cancer patients (the inner group) and non-cancer patients (the listening group) experience the listening group technique. A qualitative research design was utilised. The reasons for undertaking this research were the following: Experience has indicated that the listening group technique may be an effective method to help individuals discover alternative life stories besides the dominant stories that direct their lives. Some authors have expressed the need for therapists to do research on the listening group technique to ascertain its effectiveness as a therapeutic approach. The reason for focusing specifically on cancer patients is the high incidence of cancer and the accompanying medical and psychological effects it has for the individual. Psychological interventions appear to have positive results for cancer patients. The project was announced to cancer patients and their supporters, as well as in the postgraduate Psychology classes. Six cancer patients, five supporters and ten students participated on a voluntarily basis - twelve as members of the inner group (cancer patients and supporters) and nine as members of the listening group. Eight members of the inner group were female and four were male. Their ages varied from twenty - two to sixty - two. The listening group consisted of six female and three male students, of whom seven were honours students and two were masters students. Their ages varied from twenty - one to twenty - two. The study leader and the researcher acted as facilitators during the sessions. The process covered five evenings. After the introductory session, the first two sessions were held in the first week, while the last two sessions took place during the subsequent two weeks. Each session lasted approximately two hours. The way the participants experienced the technique was determined by means of semi-structured interviews. The following five themes came to the fore on analysing the data: other perspectives that developed and growth that took place during sessions, it was a learning experience, the participants' experience of the process, the participants' experience of the procedures and application of the technique, and suggestions that the participants made. The results indicated that the listening group technique can be applied to obtain beneficial outcomes for the participants. It can, inter aha, help them to develop new perspectives about their personal dilemmas and stimulate personal growth. / Thesis (M.A. (Clinical Psychology))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2007.

As an entertainment media, video games provide pleasure and enjoyment through interactions with various game elements. Some games are more successful in one part of the world than others, which sales data have clearly shown over the years. Games designed in various parts of the world often have distinct differences, as developers implicitly or subconsciously convey their values and culture in their creations. Thus, in examining ?what is fun,? one must move beyond technical aspects of game design and look into immersion and emotional experiences. <br /><br /> In this paper, sales data for 2004 were first examined, followed by a case study to investigate any differences between Japan and the US, where major game console manufacturers and game developers reside. Although they indicated differences in popularity of genres and design approaches, results from the survey were not able to verify conclusively major statistical difference between the two groups of respondents. <br /><br /> The survey was constructed with a focus on narrative and game-play elements, in hopes to get a better understanding of players? preferences through the concept of immersion, which were anticipated to be influenced by cultural differences. Although no major differences were found, given the small sample population, it could be seen that there was a greater sense of character attachment from Japanese respondents, while American respondents did not like to be forced away from their actions by ?long? narrative elements.

The experience of opposition between what could be contained in my internal world, and what I wanted freedom from containing while a client in counselling led to the conception of this research. Containment and freedom seemed to form a polarity (Jung 1961; 1969) in that each notion became as necessary as the other. Clients who became participants were in counselling with other counsellors and were asked to keep journals on their thoughts and feelings after counselling sessions and these formed the data for the study. My interest in poetry guided this process as the journals were created by short phrases forming each line and this seemed to influence the writing and analytic process. The journals produced by the participants encouraged the original heuristic (Moustakas 1990) design to surrender the richness that was hidden within it as it became a narrative inquiry. Containment, freedom and the possible polarity between them are investigated as constructs of emotional opposition experienced by the client. The construct and categories which emerge from the data suggest aspects of containment and freedom that demonstrate how emotional movement may occur within the participants through the opposition between containment and freedom. The data also seems to image established theory within the journal stories. A relationship between poetry and the counselling experience is drawn together within the research process as the unconscious and the use of metaphor seem to elicit the discovery of the self. My experiences of personal life events that impact upon the study are held alongside the project as such experiences and the research develop my voice which is relevant to the process and outcome of the work.

The academic study of how people respond to adverse life experiences has been dominated by Western conceptualisations of distress, resilience and growth. The current literature base regarding responses to adversity has been criticised for focusing on one response trajectory (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; PTSD). This criticism stems from the privileging of Western understandings of the self and for negating to consider sufficiently the role of context (the available social, cultural and political discourses). The significance of this void in the literature is that it has led to the development of models and theories which could be considered culturally insensitive, if applied outside of the context from which they have derived. This research addresses the highlighted gap in the literature by exploring how the context of Sierra Leone influences how people respond to the experience of Civil War and continuing adversity. Nine in-depth interviews were carried out within two ‘mental health’ organisations in Sierra Leone. The participants were nine individuals and one group, consisting of both ‘patients’ and staff members. The qualitative methodology of Narrative Analysis was used to analyse both the stories people told and the stories which may have remained unexpressed. A focus was placed during analysis on the role of context and the dialogic process. The main findings of the research indicated that the cultural resources within Sierra Leone both influenced and constrained the narratives which individuals were able to tell. ‘Stories of Survival’ seemed to be told through two dominant social narratives of ‘Bear it, and Forget’ and ‘Because of Almighty God, we Forgive’. ‘Stories of Resistance’ however, demonstrate what was implied but often left unsaid, this is characterised by two main unexpressed stories; ‘We Cannot Forget’ and ‘Why God?’. Furthermore, findings suggest that it is the relationship between the dominant social narratives and individual meaning-making which influences the trajectory of stories told. The implications of this research request a commitment to valuing the role of social context in conceptualisations of distress, resilience and growth following adversity. Finally, the need to establish ways of offering support to individuals and communities, which fully considers the role of social context, is emphasised. This paper concludes by exploring the relevance of social content for the planning of services, training programmes and continuing clinical practice.

The central contention of this thesis is that story as an aid to learning, particularly student nurses' own stories of practice, is not being used to its full potential in nurse education. The dominant tendencies in nurse education are briefly outlined; the first, a ‘top- down’, managerialist approach, which is theory-focused, and where ‘reflection-on-action’ from an essentially theoretical perspective, with assessment strategies related to extrinsic criteria, is predominant; and the second, a ‘bottom-up’ approach, focused on practice itself as a resource for learning, with ‘reflection-in-action’ (moment-to-moment decision-making) as its major pedagogic strategy. This thesis argues that these approaches are too often treated in isolation from one another, but that for nurse education to be effective, professional practice must unite the two, and that story is an imaginative and stimulating method by which this can be achieved. The thesis outlines the ways in which story has been explored in the literature, but the emphasis is on the ‘humanness’ of stories and the varied and diverse roles they could play in the development of nurse education. This discussion of the unique contribution that story can make to nurse education is placed in the context of two major theories of learning: constructivist and social constructivist, with particular emphasis on the seminal work of Schon. The research methodology adopted is that of narrative, and data were provided by student nurses’ written stories and learning accounts of practice, and notes taken during focus groups. The data were supplemented by the use of my own stories of experience of clinical practice. In all, 55 students’ written stories and learning accounts were collected, and then analysed using a three stage approach: first, reading the stories and learning accounts; second, a two- part analysis using content analysis and analysis of form; and third, a structured presentation of findings. Therefore, whilst accepting that direct learning from story is difficult to demonstrate, the evidence presented in this thesis illustrates the different ways in which stories can be an aid to student learning from practice, particularly by encouraging students to differentiate and structure clinical experiences that might otherwise remain undifferentiated and unstructured, and acknowledge and identify the tacit nature of their learning in practice and develop strategies for making it explicit. The evidence presented in this thesis supports the contention that inclusion in the curriculum of students’ stories of clinical practice can contribute towards the transformation of nurse education.

National museums are spaces where stories of the past are told through the display and interpretation of material culture. The narratives that are created in this way reflect the ways in which the nation wants to be seen at that particular moment, and are often embedded in the larger political and social contexts of that time. This thesis looks at the National Museum of Scotland as having three levels of narrative: that of the museum as a physical space and national institution, that of the temporary exhibitions it hosts and develops, and, most crucially, as a collection of important and iconic objects. By tracing the artefacts that were given a central role in various exhibitions over the life of the museum, the narratives of nation and history which were most valuable at that time can be uncovered. The two permanent and five temporary exhibitions profiled in this work act as windows into the life of the museum, and the goals and challenges it had at that moment. The thesis begins with the story of museum history in Scotland, from the 1780 formation of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland to the debates in the 1990s about the potential form and contents of a new Museum of Scotland. From there we look at two temporary exhibitions in the 1980s which inspired the Museum of Scotland, before examining some more recent temporary and touring exhibitions – a pair that came to Scotland from Russia, and one that left Edinburgh to travel among other Scottish museums. The final chapter returns to the realm of what it means to have a national museum, as it investigates the 2006 rebranding that changed the Museum of Scotland into the National Museum of Scotland, and what the new nomenclature signals about the objects and narratives within. All together, this work is both the story of a particular national museum and an investigation into the ways in which national history is continuously made and remade for the public through the display of artefacts from the past.

This thesis is composed of an ethnography of the Women’s Running Network (WRN) – a non-elite women’s-only running group – and explores participant’s lived experiences of health and ageing (and the intersection of these) in this physical context. In-depth interviews (n = 25), inclusive of case studies (n = 3), with women between the ages of 29 and 66 allowed insight into the subjective contours of participant’s lives, and their particular biographical trajectories culminating in WRN participation. Several types of narrative analyses were applied to the emergent data, and results from these revealed insights into if, why, how, and when women engaged with health and ‘active ageing’ messages across the life course. Despite a prevalence of health knowledge, participants tended to report long periods of inactivity throughout their lives – citing the often documented barriers to physical activity such as a lack of time and caregiving responsibilities. However, a vast majority of participants also cited an utter lack of confidence with respect to physical activity, often stemming from highly influential poor early experiences. Embodying a perceived ‘non-sporting’ identity for as long as they had, they were foreclosed to the idea of physical activity despite simultaneously feeling pressure to participate. For many, it was particular life events - or ‘critical moments’ – that brought participation in physical activity to the forefront (i.e., birthdays, relationship issues, bereavement, and health scares). A consideration of these within this thesis explores the complex link that exists between health consciousness and action. In addition, alternative narratives about who could be a runner (within WRN advertising and by word of mouth) ‘hailed’ participants to reconsider their foreclosed narratives, by offering a ‘fun and non-competitive’ atmosphere for people ‘of all ages, sizes, and abilities’. Once pushed to action and within the WRN setting, participants described learning about themselves and their bodies, and thus developed the capacity to tell new stories. As such, through a narrative lens, this thesis introduces the stories that participants responded to (or not), and the stories that they used to tell, felt able to tell, and – in some cases – learned how to tell about health, about ageing, and about running/physical activity. Conclusions from this work have implications for both policy and practice, advocating for the necessity of comprehensive insight into people’s perceptions and lived experiences of (active) ageing within the context of life history, current life stage, and the everyday.