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How the gypsies got their music: the future of storytelling research

Emma Parfitt — Thu, 11 Aug 2016 12:53:00 +0000

Warwick University is holding its first storytelling conference aimed at storytellers, arts practitioners, and researchers.

Photo by Alden Chadwick (Flickr, http://bit.ly/2aBeD8k)

When? 28^thNovember 2016, 12.00 noon – 17.15 pm

Where? Warwick University, Main library, Coventry

What do we want the future of storytelling research to be? This conference considers current work that is being done in the broad field of storytelling. The aim is to engage people to thinking different avenues that future research in storytelling could take. We will cover a number of different topics involving inclusive research with people with learning difficulties, applied storytelling and drama with the Belgrade Theatre, and how to consider the role of the storyteller in research. In line with our creative theme there will be a live/recorded performance of How the Gypsies got their music (by Cornish storyteller Mike O’Connor), and a poetry writing workshop.

For information please email e.l.parfitt@warwick.ac.uk

Keynote speakers

Nicola Grove (University of Kent and storytelling charity openstorytellers) will be presenting a talk on Interdisiplinary narrative research that considers the relationship between storytelling and “small stories” with particular reference to the work of Dell Hymes, an ethnographer who studied the links between the telling of legends and everyday anecdote. And the importance of “small stories” to people with learning difficulties. Nicola’s talk will include a brief exercise that she uses with people with profound disabilities to include them in storytelling.

Catherine Heinemeyer (York St John University and York Theatre Royal) will provide examples from her storytelling practice to illustrate that we need to resist the urge to pin down, close off, or over-simplify the meanings given to us by participants in our research, and be prepared to be attentive to what occurs in the storytelling exchange itself. Rather than yielding data as to the benefits of storytelling, they may provide eloquent answers that may ‘help us navigate through our rapidly changing and liquid lives’ (Mike Wilson 2014). Further, working within story may help young people to name and understand the forces shaping their society, and facilitate dialogue and advocacy between generations whose experience is radically different.

A little time is set aside to explore our creative side on the day through a crafting a poem workshop (by Emma Parfitt and Catherine Heinemeyer). Inspired by your favourite folk and fairy tales Cath and I will be inviting everyone to complete a little preparatory task to be completed on the day through a free writing excercise. We would love you to share your poems with us, but this is not required as Cath and I will bring our poems to share if no one is brave enough.

This conference has been organised by Emma Parfitt, IAS Fellowship, Sociology, Warwick University with funding from the Institute of Advanced Study. Emma Parfitt(University of Warwick, Belgrade Theatre) will present some preliminary findings about current research with the Belgrade Theatre in Coventry. The research study involves interviewing previous participants of the Belgrade Theatre’s ‘acting out’ programme which aimed to encourage participation in the arts. The interviews will assess participants’ subsequent engagement with the arts and further education. This research is being funded by an IATL Strategic Grant from Warwick University.

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The hills are alive…

Emma Parfitt — Fri, 15 Jan 2016 11:52:00 +0000

The International Sociological Association have accepted my abstract to speak in Vienna this July. Yay! I won’t be wearing a dress made from curtains but this is what the presentation will be on, perhaps I’ll see you there.

Photo ‘Vienna’ by Osamu Kaneko (http://bit.ly/1OuQFXF)

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

A Managed Heart in relation to storytelling: how education policy shapes young people’s perceptions of emotion.

Literature searches indicate that Hochschild’s theories of emotion have not been linked to oral storytelling in an educational setting. In A Managed Heart Hochschild researched how flight attendants at Delta Airlines managed emotion. Hochschild proposed that people were trained to manage emotion in the workplace. This paper explores Hochschild’s theories in the context of educational policy and oral storytelling.

A storytelling space was created in three schools in the UK, Warwickshire, in 2013. Analysis involved NVivo coding of storytelling and focus group sessions one hour long, over five subsequent weeks, with young people from 12-14 years. In total, there were six groups of four children, of mixed ethnicity, ability, and socio-economic background. The students’ conversations were recorded and transcribed for empirical analysis.

The findings suggest that English literature guidelines, set by the Department for Education, influenced the students’ interpretations of emotion. There were significant similarities between educational guidelines and the way students discussed oral storytelling. For instance, the students connected character motivation to emotion reflective of an educational approach (a standardised way to interpret classroom texts such as Romeo and Juliet). The students identified a character’s emotional ‘motivation’ and linked this to ‘actions or events’ in a causative way. Through Hochschild’s work parallels can be drawn between ‘how society uses feeling’ (2003, 17) and how individuals might be educated to use feeling through Governmental policies like the National Curriculum.

The analysis indicates that oral storytelling is a useful method for exploring the theories of Hochschild in a social context. If education influences the students’ analysis of texts, and the analysis of oral storytelling, similar aspects of interpreting behaviour and emotions might arise in other situations in the students’ lives. In this way education might have structural influence over students’ emotional connections, and potentially, the negotiation of social relationships with others.

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Posters to plasticine (Nov 2014)

Emma Parfitt — Fri, 14 Nov 2014 15:05:00 +0000

1^stNovember – poster presentation

Presented a poster of my research at the Herbert Art Gallery as part of the ESRC Festival of Social Sciences.

The exhibition aimed to improve public access to innovative research in Warwick and Coventry and was attended by the general public, academics, small business owners, and policymakers.

See a pdf of my poster here.

6^th November – The Spirit of ‘45

Attended a Q&A to hear director Ken Loach talk about his new documentary ‘The Spirit of 1945’. A film showing broken promises made by the Labour party,nationalisation, and the subsequent dismantling of the welfare state over time. During discussions at the end a member of the audience said, what can we do to protect our NHS? Our welfare? Loach suggested that socialist parties group together and co-ordinate, with voters supporting one another, negotiating and backing the Green Party (as an example), and in that way trying to ensure welfare is not further degraded by the current government. Gave me a lot to think about. I really enjoyed the way that the documentary captured the stories of real people and how the welfare state benefited them and how it’s removal is detrimental to our quality of life.

12^th November – Plasticine #IEIM14

‘Inequality in Education – Innovation in Methods’ Conference, University of Warwick

Organised by Siobhan Dytham and Carlie Ria Rowell.

The event was about innovation – what it is, why do it, and does it improve our research?

Keynote speakers included Prof. Melanie Nind (University of Southampton)

Dr Nicola Ingram (University of Bath)

I very much enjoyed talking to everyone, like Nicola Ingram who I had met previously at a BSA education conference in London, and Jessica Heal and her co-workers from TeachFirst. It was great to hear about the research that they were doing in education to hear from young people how they benefited from different teaching styles, and the way in which this was fed back to teachers to improve practices.

Nicola Ingram’s talk included the use of innovative techniques, like using art. During her presentation plasticine was given to every table and the audience created models to represent their academic selves and chat about the result. Here is mine. Please feel free to comment on what you think it might be!

Other speakers included Nadena Doharty, Farhat Syyeda, Lauren Doak, and Jacqui Shepherd

One thing which I took away from the day was that there is a large underrepresentation of people from “lower functioning autistic spectrums” for instance due to a lack of innovation in research methods. This conference was a call for the inclusivity of research.

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