Narrative in the classroom.

EL4221 Narrative Structures

The point.

Roadmap.

Part 1: The story of the

classroom.

Part 2: The new (and

improved) story of the classroom.

1

STORY

D I S C O U R S E

D I S C O

U R S E D

I S

C O

U R

S E

D I S C O U R S E

THE MEDIUMIS

THE MESSAGE

- Marshall McLuhan

A CLASSROOM IS ITS ENVIRONMENT.

THE WAY I EXPERIENCE THE CLASS BECOMES ITS SUBJECT MATTER.

The communicative framework

WHO IS THE AUTHOR?

If the classroom is a story,

An anonymous ideology.

“The whole of France is steeped in this anonymous ideology: our press, our cinema, our theatre, our popular literature, our ceremonies, our Justice, our diplomacy, our conversations, our remarks on the weather, the crimes we try, the wedding we are moved by, the cooking we dream of, the clothes we wear…”

“…everything, in our everyday life, contributes to the representation that the bourgeoisie makes for itself and for us of the relationships between man and the world”

- Roland Barthes (emphasis mine)

Setting.

• Background material• Spatial location

Characters.

• Dr. Talib – lecturer, in his 40s • Students – English Language and Literature

undergraduates, in their 20s

A modern approach to education.

With a difference.

Narrator.

• Point of view: Prof Talib • Homodigetic: narrator present in story • Intradigetic: limited knowledge of story AND Extradigetic – “higher level”

Events.

• Constituents of a story.

• Major events (kernels) and minor events (satellites)

The Post-Modern Educator?

Macro-sequence 1: Plurality of voices allowed. – Prof Talib gets us to introduce ourselves• Everyone shares their goals for the class

– Prof Talib teaches with PowerPoint• Various voices are heard

The Post-Modern Educator?

Macro-sequence 2: Power structures reversed. – Micro-sequence 1: Deciding the format of the

class • Prof Talib gives autonomy to class to decide format• Jovi responds with a proposal • Jovi presents proposal in class

– Micro-sequence 2: Educating the students • Prof Talib lectures again • People ask him questions after class • He requests that people who asked him questions

present their ideas the next week

Plot.

Prof Talib exercises POST-MODERN LEADERSHIP

in the context of the classroom.

2

A new model of education.

METANARRATIVESshould give way to petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit

recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits

petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits petit recits

(Lyotard)

Everything is reversed:

“You are the teachers in this class”

No hierarchy of knowledge.

Events and plot: Determined by collaborative authorship.

Narrator:Co-narrators – plurality of voices.

Characters: all teachers, and all students.

Setting. Classroom layout ought to be changed to reflect these values

New Communicative Framework

The old classroom narrative that embraces modern values

has become outmoded.

A NEW MODEL OF EDUCATION

in a world where petit narratives

Have becomeTHE NEW GRAND NARRATIVE

• “Ants and bees worked together as a single unit, and were prepared to die for the greater good of the colony.” – “Bees and ants ‘operate in teams’” BBC News, 23 March 2009

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