Title Living the stories we create: an educational response to narrative in the digital age Author

296 Pages·2017·2.42 MB·English

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Living the stories we create: an educational response to
Title
narrative in the digital age
Author(s) McCabe, Ellen
Publication
2015-11-30
Date
Item record http://hdl.handle.net/10379/5781
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Living the Stories We Create
An Educational Response to Narrative in the Digital Age

by
Ellen Mc Cabe

Supervisor: Prof. Rod Stoneman
Co. Supervisors: Dr. Sean Crosson and Dr. Tony Hall

The Huston School of Film & Digital Media,
College of Arts, Social Sciences & Celtic Studies,
The National University of Ireland, Galway

Submission: November 2015
Abstract ................................................................................................................... 4
Chapter One: Introduction ........................................................................................ 5
Background .......................................................................................................... 6
Significance and Potential .................................................................................. 14
Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 14
Chapter Two: The Review of Literature .................................................................. 16
World Making and Media .................................................................................... 16
Implications for Education .................................................................................. 24
What is Macbeth? - Preservation, adaptation, interpretation and Macbeth's
cultural life .......................................................................................................... 35
Multimedia Shakespeare .................................................................................... 48
The Role of Technology ..................................................................................... 60
Digital Storytelling and Experience ..................................................................... 68
Conclusion ......................................................................................................... 72
Chapter Three: Methodology ................................................................................. 75
Research Questions ........................................................................................... 75
The Research Approach - Qualitative ................................................................. 76
The Research Strategy (The Case Study) .......................................................... 78
Triangulation ...................................................................................................... 79
Sampling ............................................................................................................ 80
The Research Instruments ................................................................................. 82
Entry and Analysis of Findings ........................................................................... 89
Method ............................................................................................................... 90
Ethical Considerations ...................................................................................... 118
Limitations and Delimitations ............................................................................ 120
Summary .......................................................................................................... 120
Chapter Four: Presentation and Discussion of Findings, Part 1 ........................... 122
Perceptions and Attitudes of Students .............................................................. 124
Daily Practice ................................................................................................... 128
Student Engagement........................................................................................ 131
Categorical Understanding ............................................................................... 137
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Extensive and Demanding Nature of the Syllabus ............................................ 140
Issues around Language .................................................................................. 143
Multiple Media Forms ....................................................................................... 147
Summary .......................................................................................................... 152
Digital Storytelling ............................................................................................ 153
Workshop Analysis and Findings ..................................................................... 155
Focus and Engagement ................................................................................... 155
Technology ...................................................................................................... 160
Creativity .......................................................................................................... 164
Group Work ...................................................................................................... 168
Vocal Expression ............................................................................................. 170
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 173
Chapter Five: Presentation and Discussion of Findings, Part 2 ........................... 175
Theoretical Implications ....................................................................................... 175
The Otherness of Education ............................................................................. 175
The Divergence of Macbeth ............................................................................. 178
The Dissemination of Categorical Thought ....................................................... 180
Storytelling and the Dissolution of Categories .................................................. 184
Print is Paramount – The role of Performative and Oral Arts in the Curriculum. 192
The Finnish Example........................................................................................ 198
From Consumer to Participant .......................................................................... 205
Art versus Artefact ............................................................................................ 206
Flexibility, Relationships and Context ............................................................... 207
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 207
Chapter Six: Conclusion ...................................................................................... 211
Form, Manifestation and Consequences .......................................................... 212
Realignment Through Reform .......................................................................... 218
The Role of Technology ................................................................................... 220
Findings and Conclusions ................................................................................ 221
Recommendations for Further Investigation ..................................................... 225
Conclusion ....................................................................................................... 239
Bibliography ......................................................................................................... 242
Appendices .......................................................................................................... 255

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Abstract
Narrative forms, play a vital role in human enrichment and development. Through
them we acquire a sense not only of our environment, but of our own identity. We
are drawn to describe our world and subsequently seek to emulate the image we
create. The recent shift from a society dominated by print, to one where digital
media prevails invites us to consider the consequences for storytelling. While
theorists such as Barthes have noted the development of narrative forms in oral and
print cultures, the influences of digital media on narrative are only beginning to
emerge. What new stories have grown from this transition? How have these
influenced contemporary expectations of storytelling? In the event of such profound
change, how will education seek to address this?
In this regard it is interesting to consider the case of Shakespeare's
Macbeth. Conceived with the intention of entertaining, becoming subsequently the
subject of literary scholarship, Macbeth is a work of enormous cultural significance.
Written in approximately 1606 Macbeth has its roots in a culture of orality and yet
has sustained through centuries of print dominance. Indeed as both text and
performance the work itself embodies both the literary and the oral. Yet as a staple
of many second level curricula (including the Irish Leaving Certificate) more and
more Macbeth is perceived as an educational text. This research will examine
Macbeth as a case study in seeking to explore the implications of digital media for
learning, as well as its possible potential to constructively facilitate in realigning
formal learning contexts to contemporary perceptions and expectations of narrative.

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Chapter One: Introduction
“Narrative is present in every age, in every place, in every society; it begins with the
very history of mankind and there nowhere is nor has been a people without
narrative.” (Barthes and Heath, 2009, p. 79)

A constant referent for creativity and imagination, narrative pervades and moulds
the cultural consciousness of humanity (Barthes and Heath, 2009). Both ancient
and universal, it possesses the power to structure perceived experience, to organise
memory, to segment and purpose-build the very events of life (Bruner, 2004).
Through our stories we acquire a sense not only of our environment, but of our
identity. Yet narratives are not fixed, they are continually informed by and
subsequently respond to the cultural context. External factors such as language,
place and medium are intrinsic to this process. As Marshall McLuhan noted media
are not passive channels, but significant in the way they shape the stories that can
be told, where they are told as well as who can tell them (qtd. in Carr 2008). In light
of this, how have our forms of self-telling adapted to the recent shift from a society
dominated by print to one where digital media prevails? How have the inevitable
changes in perception, cognition and notions of identity influenced our engagement
with narrative? How have these informed contemporary expectations of storytelling?
As such what are the consequences of this change for learning?
In the wake of such transition this research will seek to address a perceived
disjuncture between a culture permeated by digital media and the continued
dominance of print values within education systems. This apparent dichotomy
invites numerous questions with regard to the appropriateness of such a system in
preparing students to become active participants in society as well as to realise the
extent of their own potential. What are the implications of this for students’
engagement with their learning material and its potential meaning beyond formal
learning contexts? How does it inform students’ educational experience and thus
their perceptions of learning? How does this problem manifest and as such how can
it be responded to? This research will thus explore the potential of digital media to
rectify the disjuncture between formal learning contexts and contemporary
perceptions and expectations of narrative.

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Background
Narrative, Media and Society
For constructivists such as Jerome Bruner, stories represent the only real method
for describing and interpreting life as it is lived (2004). Thus in a very real sense we
create the world around us and subsequently seek to imitate the image we have
made. This inherently creative process of exploration, comprehension and self-
tellling is by its nature heavily informed by cultural, linguistic, social and a variety of
other contributory factors and is as such intrinsically unstable (Bruner, 2004).
Considering this what are the implications of the ever increasing ubiquity of
technology for storytelling? What new stories have emerged from this shift? How do
such stories in turn shape our perception of ourselves and our environment?
The theorist Donna Haraway offers a compelling and prophetic insight into
the relationship between the growth of technology and evolving social constructions
in her essay The Cyborg Manifesto. Neither living nor dead and yet both, for
Haraway the cyborg represents a blurring of traditional boundaries enabled by the
proclivity of technology (2010). With remarkable foresight she states, “Our machines
are surprisingly lively, while we ourselves are frighteningly inert” (2010, p. 456). She
describes a pervasive ambiguity prevailed by the manner in which human and
machine inform one another, frequently challenging the distinction of creator and
created (2010). For Haraway this ambiguity represents a welcome departure from
rigid yet contrived social categories. As such she encourages, “Pleasure in the
confusion of boundaries” (2010, p. 455). Yet this dissolution of structures so deeply
embedded in the cultural context invites further questions with regard to the
relationship between media and social construction, hence the possible implications
of such a shift for narrative and learning.
As has been noted by theorists including Egan, Ong and Havelock, in pre-
literate cultures stories fulfilled an invaluable role in the preservation of knowledge
and identity. The evanescence of sound necessitated that ideas and even entire
cultures were sustained through memory. Storytelling was a vital tool in this regard,
ensuring cohesion and structure for millennia (Egan, 1989a). The advent of print
informed this role profoundly.
While manuscripts presented numerous challenges such as the uniqueness
of the hand and utilisation of many varied abbreviations, printed books were both
portable and easily deciphered, enabling rapid silent reading. Thus while prior to its
invention writing chiefly functioned as an aid to oral discourse, print secured words
more resolutely in the world of the visual than ever before. The implications for
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social interaction and notions of personal privacy were significant, establishing a
new concept of individualism (Ong, 2013).
The advent of print can therefore be understood as highly significant in
regard to societal structures and interactions, as well as the role of stories therein.
The influence of this shift can also be observed in the form of stories themselves.
The preservation of knowledge necessitated a precise and descriptive narrative
style. Such stories were heavily driven by cause and effect action, exemplified in
Aristotelian poetics. However with the growth of print these characteristics were less
vital. The personal and internal nature of print led to a focus on more diffuse
concepts such as character, identity and atmosphere in order to convey meaning
(Barthes and Heath, 2009).
It is the contention of theorists such as Haraway and Castells that the growth
of the digital is resulting in a societal metamorphosis of comparable or even greater
significance. Often termed ‘The Network Society’, Haraway describes this as a
social discourse concerned with connections rather than individual components.
Whereas previously our lives could be categorised in relation to the home, the
workplace, the market etc. the growth of surveillance technology as well as the
homework economy have rendered such distinctions problematic (2010). Together
with this, demographic categories, for decades the basis of huge assumptions, are
becoming increasingly irrelevant, with user’s actual activity being more easily
tracked online (Blakley, 2010).
Yet in the face of such pervasive opportunities for connection, the growth of
personalization based on algorithmic editing is leading to significant assumptions
with regard to perceived needs and desires, a phenomenon that Eli Pariser terms
‘The Filter Bubble’ (2011). The potential of this process to render users vulnerable
to intellectual isolation is of significant concern. Thus, conversely while offering
immense possibility for connection, online experiences also possess the potential to
solidify existing divisions.
As was the case with print, such profound change inevitably has implications
for perception and the narrative forms that emerge as a result. The more these
changes manifest in the stories that are told, the more embedded in the cultural
consciousness they become. In the face of such change how will education seek to
respond? Are the approaches developed in a culture of print still relevant or
adequate?

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Consequences for Education
The degree to which the categorical thinking associated with print culture has
become embedded in education systems can be clearly perceived in C.P. Snows
The Two Cultures. Written in 1959, decades before the advent of digital culture, it
was Snow’s contention that the intellectual life of western society had become
polarized into two groups, literary intellectuals at one pole and scientists at the other
(Snow, 2012). He attributed this to a trend towards educational specialization which
was only worsening with time. As a result there was no sphere in which these
subjects might engage, thus the collision of two disciplines, two cultures from which
a myriad of creative possibilities might emerge, has become more and more difficult.
While Snow lamented that such thought processes had become so
engrained as to render their reversal highly improbable, the dilemma posed by the
persistence of such a system in an age of digital connectedness has been explored
in the work of Ken Robinson. For Robinson current educational systems remain
rooted in the ideals of the Enlightenment and driven by the economic imperatives of
the Industrial Revolution. As a result the notion that there are essentially two types
of people, academic and non-academic, has become deeply entrenched in
education as we know it today ('RSA Animate', 2010).
Robinson is highly critical of a growing reliance on standardised tests that
strive towards a model of conformity. He outlines the possible implications of this by
citing a longitudinal study of divergent thinking in students. The ability to see many
different answers to a question, divergent thinking is a necessary competency for
creativity. When tested at kindergarten level, 98% of students showed genius levels
of ability in divergent thinking. The same group tested five years later displayed a
significant decrease in their capacity for divergent thinking. This was again shown to
have decreased in the subsequent five years. While there were many factors at play
in this instance, the most significant was that the participants had become educated
('RSA Animate', 2010).
The inadequacy of these traditional educational approaches in equipping
students to grasp the positive potential of technology for creation and connection is
further emphasised by a recent EU study of children’s online activity (EU Kids
Online). This research found that while children aged 9-16 spent an average of 88
minutes online each day, few had the skills required to take part in advanced
creative activity including blogging, file sharing and participating in virtual
environments. Instead most opted for a decidedly more passive form of
engagement such as watching videos or reading websites (Livingston and Haddon,
2011). The study appears to indicate that even among this demographic, with
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