Mythopoetic scholarship

In 1987, James Macdonald published a paper in which he suggested that our ways of attempting to understand our worlds might be placed in three categories, within what he called 'the hermeneutic circle' (see diagram in the left hand column). The three categories or methodologies were the technical/rational, the critical/emancipatory and the mythopoetic.

 What is this 'mythopoetic methodology'? And is it just another name for narrative inquiry?

 Mythopoetic scholarship is the exploration through story and metaphor of complex phenomena. A mythopoetic methodology is the practice of gaining insight to these complex phenomena through bringing  intuition and imagination to bear on known elements of the empirical world. While narrative inquiry studies narrative and reports in non-fictional (but often narrative) forms on the results of its research. mythopoetics represents its insights in fictional or semi-fictional forms.

This methodology goes by many names - arts-based research, creative nonfiction, ethnographic fiction, for example - but I like the term 'mythopoetic methodology' because of the link between this kind of research and the knowledge about the world afforded by myths and poetry (both of which, like a mythopoetic methodology, draw on grounded experiences of the empirical world as the source of its insights).

Macdonald's conception of the relationship between these different methodologies reminds us of the distinctive contribution a mythopoetic methodology might make to our understanding of pressing educational issues, such as the experiences of the early career teacher or the exploration of the nature of secondary English teaching.

Reporting on our insights using mythopoetics or story, in a language that is accessible and evocative, and which speaks directly about (for example) early career teachers' lived experience, has a number of distinct benefits. I outlined four of these in my opening address to the International Storytelling Conference in Prague in May, 2013.

  1. Story agitates. It gets under skin, unsettles and troubles the taken-for-granted.

  2. Story complicates. It portrays a world of complexity and ambiguity, where complicated relationships and unresolved tensions between different elements are presented.

  3. Story inducts. It draws its readers into felt experiences of real worlds, and creates greater understanding of, and connection to, experiences and worlds different from our original ones.

  4. Story animates. It affects deeply and creates a sense of urgency around the need to act.

For the past three years, I have been writing (sometimes with colleagues, sometimes on my own) of a series of stories, set in secondary and tertiary classrooms, all of which draw on a number of theoretical lenses, to explore and illuminate issues to do with being an early career and/or a secondary English teacher.

Some of these stories have already been published in journals, some are currently being reviewed (see list in the right hand column).

I also have a book contract with Sense Publishers to produce a collection of these stories in 2014. The book is tentatively titled Imagined worlds and classroom realities.

Our work

  1. Exploring the nature of what I'm calling a 'mythopoetic methodology'.
  2. Thinking about links between this and other methodologies: arts-based research, fictional ethnography, creative nonfiction, narrative inquiry, etc
  3. Hearing reports from conferences and collaborations (eg Prague 2013, Lisbon May 2014, Paris June 2014)
  4. Sharing resources and writing
  5. Conducting research (school-based? Masters/PhD?) using a mythopoetic methodology
  6. Doing some writing together (see 'Both alike in dignity', 'Conversation and community')
  7. Meeting together to discuss mythopoetics.
  8. Taking part in Webinars, organised through our Ning, where for a limited time (a week? a fortnight?) we discuss a topic, article or idea of particular interest.
  9. Sharing stories/poems/creative work

Our mythopoetic journal articles

Our mythopoetic publications

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