Unit 2: Narrative in Instruction
(Click to go back to Narrative in Instruction and Assessment)
(Click to go back to Unit 1: The Power of the Narrative Form)
A Quick Review of Unit 1
- A story tells a sequence of events in chronological order; a narrative differs in that it is not bound by strict chronology.
- Key elements of a narrative include a context, a problem (or puzzle), and a resolution (or revelation).
- The narrative structure prepares an audience to receive a resolution (or revelation) which they might not otherwise accept.
Imagine ...
...that you are taking a class in a complex subject in which you have little or no expertise, and the instructor rattles off fact after fact after fact. It might looks something like this:
Classic Example of Ineffective Instruction
Notice how the instructor does provide a context, does demonstrate a problem, and describes the attempted solution. He also relies heavily on facts and cause-and-effect relationships. It seems as though this man knows his stuff, and he does seem to have some of the elements of a narrative -- so why isn't his instruction working to engage his students?
The Point of Connection
For a narrative to be compelling, there needs to be a point of connection to which the learners can connect. This point of connection is a protagonist who has a clear motivation.
Think back to Unit 1. In the shoe-tying video, the protagonist is the presenter himself, and he has a motivation to keep his shoes tied. In the video about helping by listening, the protagonist is again the presenter, but also his collaborators in his project (he frequently refers to "we"), and their motivation is to introduce agriculture to a region (whether the inhabitants of that region want it or not).
Every story has a protagonist, or a main character. That protagonist may be a person, an animal, a plant (think The Giving Tree), or an inanimate object (think "Thomas the Tank Engine"). When we meet that protagonist, and learn something of what that protagonist wants to do (the motivation), we then have a point of connection to the story.
As soon as the point of connection is established, we begin to evaluate the actions and motivations of the protagonist in light of our understanding of the world. We ask,
- "Why did he do that?"
- "Oh, she shouldn't have said that."
- "They should really try...."
- "I bet they're going to figure this out by..."
This happens almost reflexively, much as a theater full of people at a horror movie silently urge the female lead not to trust the person we know to be the killer. And each time we evaluate the protagonist's actions, we become more connected to the content of the narrative.
This level of connection does not happen as effectively when discussing matters in the abstract unless the learners are already well-versed in the field of the discussion.
A Better Example
Here is another video of an instructor covering the same topic as in the video above, but with a different approach.
Narrative Instruction on Hawley-Smoot
Here the instructor engages in a narrative with two points of connection:
- Hoover is presented as the protagonist with a motivation (to help American people who are struggling during the Great Depression).
- At a brief point within the Hoover narrative, the instructor illustrates a concept by presenting a hypothetical protagonist (SONY coporation) with a motivation (to sell PlayStation IVs).
In this far more successful effort to address the topic, the narrative elements allow the learner to connect with the material by relating to characters with motivations and problems.
Applying Narrative Across Curricula
What follows is a list (hardly exhaustive) of possible uses of narrative in several different disciplines (again, hardly exhaustive in scope).
Social Studies -- Social Studies has the potential to lend itself very easily to narrative instruction, as much of the discipline involves processes of change over time in different cultures and involving key individuals. As the foregoing examples show, though, it's essential for the narrative to take the position of a protagonist, identify his or her motivation, and then reveal the conflict the protagonist faces before moving forward with the facts.
English/Language Arts -- Of course narrative is related to the study of fiction, but instructors can also use narrative to illustrate (for example) writing process. The instructor first establishes the writer as a protagonist who has the goal of communicating a specific idea effectively. The instructor can then ask students to identify what problems the writer might face, and examine how the writer might resolve each obstacle. (Here the narrative is collaboratively built, which is a highly-effective method for increasing engagement.)
Mathematics -- Instructors in mathematics and all related disciplines have long understood the value of the narrative. Just consider how often equations are expressed as word problems, which are often narratives with characters who need to identify an unknown quality ("Joey has three apples, etc."). The narrative moves an abstract concept into a concrete understanding, en route to a practical application. Here's an example from the TV series NUMB3RS:
Science -- Narrative can certainly be used in science, but it needs to be used carefully. There's a potential cognitive risk in assigning anthropomorphic qualities to certain biological functions, for example. (One may recall certain politicians believing that reproductive functions have reasoning capabilities.) However, when presented in a clear context as metaphor, a narrative creates a framework (character, context, problem, resolution) that helps students recall the order of processes.
Foreign Language -- Foreign Language study lends itself easily to the incorporation of narrative. Students learn conversational phrasing by following a dialogue between characters who are attempting to achieve a goal. Students practice their understanding of the language by engaging in similar conversations around a narrative premise that demands interaction.
Finding the Narrative Thread in Your Lesson
While the above suggestions give some idea of the types of lessons that involve narrative elements, you may want some guidance in how to identify the narrative elements present in your subject matter. In this, you may wish to follow the excellent guidance of Kylene Beers from her book When Kids Can't Read, What Teachers Can Do (2003). She offers a tool designed to identify the essential plot of a narrative: the Somebody-Wants-But-So chart.
| Somebody | Wants | But | So |
|---|---|---|---|
| (character) | (motivation) | (problem/puzzle) | (resolution) |
While Beers intends this to tool to help struggling readers to identify key plot points, it works just as well for educators to identify potential narrative elements in their subject matter. In this chart, the Hawley-Smoot discussion above would look like this:
| Somebody | Wants | But | So |
|---|---|---|---|
| President Hoover | people to prosper | they're suffering through the Great Depression | he tries to help the economy by raising tariffs on foreign goods |
Once you identify the basic elements of your lesson that would fit into a narrative frame, you can build the narrative-structure instruction that will help to engage your learners.
Try It! You'll Like It!
Identify one concept within your discipline that students often struggle to learn. Use your imagination to envision the parts of that concept as elements of a narrative. Is there any part that can function as the character, the do-er? (This may require some fanciful creativity -- anything can serve as a character, from a trombone to a decimal point.) Determine what that character "wants" to do, what its obstacles are, and how it resolves the obstacles.
Complete a Somebody-Wants-But-So chart for this to sort out the elements of your narrative. Then feel free to elaborate as much or as little as you like to flesh out the narrative. A moderate amount of creative license can increase student engagement and the likelihood of retention; just make sure you stick to the narrative thread of the elements you've already identified.
References
Beers, K. 2003. When kids can't read: What teachers can do. Portsmouth: Heinemann.==References==
Hughes, J. (1986). Ben Stein as Economic Teacher in Ferris Bueller's Day Off [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZOy6w6UsMY
Vision Chasers. (2014, Feb 19). The Hawley-Smoot Tariff Act [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wR-HAbAHXyg
Numb3rs-A Mathematical Gunfight. (2008, Dec 21). [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VC2PfvfQYQ
Taking in the Scenery
You've traveled a fair distance so far. The next step takes you to Unit 3: Narrative for Assessment and Differentiation