In this chapter, we propose that the democracy we wish to see out in the world is influenced by the quality of our own “inner democracies”—that is: the quality of the democracies among and between the selves or voices in the landscape of the self. We must find ways out of the I-prisons we experience and perpetuate. With this in mind, we propose that ”writing the self,” a method whereby creative, expressive, and reflective writing is used to cultivate an internal dialogue and construct a new identity narrative (Lengelle, 2014), can assist in reshaping our stories about ”the Other and ourselves” and can contribute to personal and cultural healing and reconciliation. The inner dialogue reconciled is foundational for the external dialogue at the heart of global citizenship within education. Indeed, as Schellhammer argues, we must cultivate the self in order to become inter-culturally competent, and this includes facing shadow aspects through truthful dialogues with the self and caring for the self. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62861-5_6 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinekke-lengelle-phd-767a4322/
MULTIFILE
This study investigates whether creative, expressive, and reflective writing contributes to the formation of a narrative career identity that offers students in higher education a sense of meaning and direction. The contents of writing done by students who participated in 2 two-day writing courses before and after work placements and of a control group were compared. Employers were also asked to evaluate students' performance. Writing samples were analyzed using the Linguistic Index Word Count program and an instrument based on Dialogical Self Theory. Work-placement self-reports were gathered, examined, and used as anecdotal evidence presented in the form of case studies. The results show that career writing can promote the development of career identity and holds promise as a narrative career guidance approach.
DOCUMENT
This study investigates whether creative, expressive, and reflective writing contributes to the formation of a work-life narrative that offers both meaning and direction among students in higher education. The content of writing done by students who participated in a two-day writing course at the start (or in preparation) of their work placements and of a control group who did not take part in the course were compared. Writing samples were analysed using the Linguistic Index Word Count program (Pennebaker, Booth, & Francis, 2007) and an instrument based on Dialogical Self Theory (Hermans & Hermans-Konopka, 2010). Results show writing promotes the development of career narratives.
DOCUMENT
Career Writing is a narrative approach to qualitative career assessment whereby client (or student) groups use creative, reflective, and expressive forms of writing to foster an internal dialogue about career. It is intended to help individuals construct a career identity by uncovering life themes, assessing drives and wishes, and rewriting stories (i.e., narrative truths) that no longer serve. The starting point for this learning process is usually a crisis, which could be a situation, event, attitude or choice dilemma surrounding work. Research shows that career writing holds promise for university students in the process of career formation and orientation and can help adults facing job loss.
DOCUMENT
In response to a rapidly changing, increasingly insecure and complex labor market, career counselors and researchers are developing methods that can meet the needs of individuals who would navigate this new terrain. In the last two or three decades, narrative career counseling practices (Cochran, 1997; McMahon & Watson, 2012; Reid & West, 2011; Savickas, 2012) have been developed to promote career adaptability (Savickas, 2011) and career resilience (Lyons, Schweitzer & Ng, 2015). Narrative counseling (i.e. career construction) is founded on the idea that in order to survive and thrive on the labor market of the 21st century, individuals must reflexively construct their identities in a process of meaning making, where identity is co-constructed in the form of a narrative: a story about who one is that provides both meaning and direction (Wijers & Meijers, 1996). LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinekke-lengelle-phd-767a4322/
MULTIFILE
What do a grandmaster Jedi and a grandfather have in common? The answer will become clear in this story of two sisters who used the Career Writing method to identify career questions, life themes, and tapped into the wisdom of their childhood heroes. Lengelle, R., Haggerty, E. (2022). Career Writing and the Tale of Two Sisters: The Family Project, Heroic Drive, and How No Sibling Has the Same Parents. In: Schreiber, M. (ed) Narrative Ansätze in Beratung und Coaching (pp. 163-172). Springer, Wiesbaden.
DOCUMENT
Writing as soul work refers to the active engagement of students in transformative writing activities in a group setting with the aim to enable students to develop new, more empowering narratives. This article explains how soul work through writing can be used to foster career adaptability, expressed in the form of increased awareness and self-direction. We summarize the labour market realities that underlie a need for more narrative approaches and introduce writing as soul work as a potential method to respond to these contemporary career challenges. We define what is meant by soul work and writing, illustrate its use with several stories from practice, and make recommendations for teachers and implementation in institutions. “This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in "British Journal of Guidance and Counsellingon" on 04/16/2016 available online: https://doi.org/10.1080/03069885.2016.1169366 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinekke-lengelle-phd-767a4322/
MULTIFILE
Higher education is tasked with preparing students for a culturally diverse and globalizing world. Additionally, western nations have an increasingly diverse student population and know the success of their students will depend in part on being able to navigate diversity. There is therefore good reason for institutions of higher learning to promote and facilitate the development of ‘global citizens’ – people who can work and relate across borders and boundaries, both real and perceived. However, teachers are not necessarily equipped to foster this learning. Many teachers are used to a reproductive way of teaching while the learning that is needed here is identity learning, directed at dialogue, internally as well as externally. This chapter proposes the potential of creative, expressive and reflective writing as a way in which personal development – a form of a reflexive internal dialogue – can be fostered to promote cultural healing and global citizenship. The writing method will be described and a case study on cultural healing in the context of Canada’s reconciliation efforts with Aboriginal people will be used to illustrate the learning process involved. The processes of writing the self and re-narrating identity has several promising benefits for both students and teachers in higher education. First it allows us to learn more about ourselves and what blocks our learning (i.e. promotes self-reflection). Second, it allows us to change our story and our identifications and therefore choose differently (i.e. self-direction). Third, it is a companion on the road of life where we literally learn to talk and listen to ourselves and articulate the tacit knowledge that can be unearthed through narrative, journal, and poetic writing. Fourth, the method is playful and creative and although tears are frequently shed in the process, students report a great enjoyment in writing and sharing their stories with others. It is a meaningful dialogue about experience and also has the potential of promoting cultural (Lengelle, Jardine, & Bonnar, 2018) healing in the context of a very diverse student body (Banks, 2015). It also has the potential for creating new bonds in the classroom and allows teachers in higher education to engage in the difficult work of facilitating global citizenship learning. The internal dialogue described here also allows us to ‘clean up’ judgements and become aware of the need to reach out to others. Not only the actual sharing of vulnerable writing in a class or online setting shows us we are not alone, but ‘writing the self’ focuses deliberately on where we have become fearful about our own and others’ identities and allows us a learning process to unearth those things, heal them in order to reach out to others.
DOCUMENT
A presentation describing seven factors to consider during the writing process of micro-scripts (1-2 page screenplays) intended for virtual production filming. Topics include blocking, staging, camera movement, and other technical details, along with creative inspirations and using limitations as an advantage.
DOCUMENT
The intention of this chapter is to show how autoethnographic research might promote reflexivity among career professionals. We aim to answer the question: can writing one’s own life and career story assist career practitioners and researchers in identifying patterns, idiosyncrasies, vulnerabilities that will make them more aware of the elements that are fundamental to career construction and that have been mentioned in a variety of disparate places in the existing career literature? What interested us as career researchers and co-creators of the narrative approach Career Writing in considering the innovative intention of this book, was how writing our own career story could deepen our professional reflexivity and might also help others to do so. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22799-9_30 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/reinekke-lengelle-phd-767a4322/
MULTIFILE