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Writer's pictureSimon Hinch

Narrative, Learning & the Construction of Knowledge


(This is a except from a recently Published paper, details avaliable below)

‘to teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for the production or construction of knowledge’

(Freire, 2001 p30)


In the epistemological position alluded to by Freire (2001) above, we find a further parallel between approaches to critical pedagogy and narrative practice. This is a position that understands knowledge as something that is not ‘out there’ to find and that can be ‘transferred’ between minds, but rather something that is communally and collectively constructed through language and in dialogue or, socially constructed. As such this position invites a questioning of taken for granted assumptions and truths as it understands knowledge as time, place, and context dependent. This then makes space for valuing multiple perspectives, or interpretations of experience, bringing into question assumptions regarding the hierarchy of knowledge that provides an educator or therapist their traditional position of expertise (Gergen, 2001, Freedman & Combs, 1996,2002)


With this in mind, the interactional process of questioning and dialogue, and the subsequent community-based production of knowledge, can in and of itself, be understood as a pedological or learning process (Vygotsky, 1978; Gehart, 2007). Additionally, closely related to these concepts is significant literature that explores the connection between these ideas and narrative processes, which are understood by Fisher (1984) and Clarke & Rossiter (2008) to be a primary way in which we make meaning from our everyday experience and develop coherence from what would otherwise be isolated and random experiences. Furthermore, according to Scherto (2014), given that narrative always involves an audience, how we make this learning visible to others also becomes salient, returning to Clarke & Rossiter (2008):


‘…conversation is where the learning is happening. The telling of stories makes the learner not the receiver but the actor,

moving from a cognitive understanding of an idea, principle, or concept and linking it to their own experience’.


Extending on this is the notion of re-storying, which takes these ideas of narrative learning and explores the value of inviting learners to share personal stories or narratives in ways that emphasise particular aspects of their experience. Slabon et al. (2009 )define a re-storying process as:


‘….learners writing or re-telling of a personal, domain relevant story based on the application of concepts, principles, strategies and techniques covered during the course of instruction’ p9.


This definition of re-storying also emphasises the process of these student-generated stories, being shared with other learning participants and subsequently reflected upon, modified, and developed with the intent of generating learning that is domain specific, yet also personally relevant to the learners and as such more easily internalised (Slabon, et al., 2014).


While this definition of re-storying does have a somewhat different emphasis to the practice of re-authoring provided by Russell & Carey (2004) and Freedman & Coombs (1996), It does clearly have parallels in that it includes the notion of the re-telling of relevant stories that are witnessed and responded to by others, with the intent of generating reflection, re-descriptions and diverse knowledge grounded in the local experience of participants. It is these ideas regarding the use of dialogue, narrative learning, and re-storying, when combined with a number of narrative practices as outlined by White (2007), Denborough (2008) and Freedman & Coombs (1996), that form the heart of the next phase of this project.


Hinch, S (2021). Message in a Bottle: Collective Narrative Practice as Critical Pedagogy in Counselling Education. Australian Counselling Research Journal Vol. 15. Issue 1 2021.






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