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The Storytelling Project model
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Background/Context
Research in Europe and the United States shows that racial position shapes and gives voice to the stories people tell about race and racism, and filters how such stories are perceived and understood by listeners. Although not uniformly the case, people from the majority White racial group tend to emphasize forward progress and th...
Context in source publication
Context 1
... model we ultimately developed identifies four story types to describe how people talk and think about race and racism in the United States: stock stories, concealed stories, resistance stories, and emerging/transforming stories. As Figure 1 illustrates, constructing a counter-storytelling community is the essential center for exploring these four story types; each story type builds on and leads into the next as new content and stories are introduced, and movement through the cycle is used to generate ideas for action or change. The story types reinforce the intentions of our guidelines by providing language and a framework for talking explicitly about racial stories and for making sense of how racism operates in the social stories we tell. ...
Citations
... Narrative/storytelling has been used in various ways, including as an alternative research method (Pike and Page 2014;Contandriopoulos et al. 2010); a tool for establishing organizational identity (Humphreys and Brown 2017), knowledge management (Patriotta 2003), policies (Mumby 1987) and change management (Hardy and Maguire 2010), and sometimes as a model (Bell and Roberts 2010;Bensaid 2021). Given that organizational storytelling/narrative is a relatively new concept, some of its uses have not been available to the public as documented research and yet some of its unexplored potential remains unknown to both organizations and scholars. ...
... Mar and Oatley (2008) narrate social world stories through abstraction, simulation or modelling. In a study aimed at developing a theoretical model for teaching about racism and racial stories using art, Bell and Roberts (2010) introduce its final model consisting of four types of stories: stock stories, concealed stories, resistance stories and emerging/transforming stories. Nijhof and Willems (2015) used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine how people use important neural networks differently to understand the intentions and beliefs of others. ...
Organizational storytelling/narrative was largely ignored in the academic literature before the 1970s. Today, however, with the spread of ‘storytelling thinking’, this concept has been explored across disciplines including sociology, psychology, anthropology and philosophy. Although much research has emerged in the field of organizational narrative/storytelling, no study has addressed the bibliography of this subject quantitatively. This article is a bibliometric study of organizational storytelling/narration that aims to fill this gap. The data came from the Web of Science (WoS), which includes 441 documents between 1955 and January 2022. VOSviewer software was used to draw charts and create tables. The findings show that most documents have been published in this area in the last two decades, mainly in the United States. This bibliographic study offers two key findings for the field of organization storytelling. First, co-citation analysis provides four clusters, namely Cluster 1: healthcare, Cluster 2: stories of a darker side, Cluster 3: collective centring and collective sensemaking to express organizational culture and Cluster 4: identity and knowledge, shows in which topics the researchers of organizational storytelling/narrative have been most active. Second, co-occurrence analysis presents six clusters, Cluster 1: identification, Cluster 2: systems, Cluster 3: evolution, Cluster 4: performance, Cluster 5: power and Cluster 6: self, which are placed in a logical path related to the maturity levels of the organization and illustrate the topics that correspond to each organizational maturity level. Given the nature of the narrative/story, future researchers are likely to focus more on qualitative analysis and other aspects of quantitative analysis, including citations. Future research should focus on quantitative and qualitative analysis of the existing models of storytelling/narrative.
... In this article, I outline the overarching foundational frameworks that guided the study and continue to guide our work-critical race theory, critical race pedagogy, culturally responsive teaching, and CLEs. Through three cycles of PAR inquiry, we drew on families' assets to redesign the curriculum; learning together how the family and student stories become an intrinsic part of the curriculum and a learning experience for the teachers and students (Bell & Roberts 2010;Guajardo & Guajardo, 2013;Pérez Huber, 2009;Solórzano & Yosso, 2002). Finally, as school leaders, teachers, parents, and students we incorporated those stories in K-12 classrooms to go beyond listening to fully witnessing stories of students and families. ...
Culturally responsive educators advocate for a greater emphasis on family and student voices that invoke their lived experiences, cultural knowledge, ancestral wisdom, and supportive familial relationships. However, few educators know how to bring these stories directly to K-12 classrooms. Using a participatory action research methodology, I incorporated the counter-stories of students and families in an elementary school curriculum. As we practiced storytelling in family wisdom circles and in teacher meetings, I listened for epiphany moments that demonstrated how storytelling as an act of critical literacy requires "listening to witness." As families, students, and teachers witnessed each other's stories, they redefined power relationships in classrooms and the school at large. By redefining how curriculum and instruction efforts can fully engage parents and students in its creation and implementation, the findings have implications for antiracism education and unmasking the role of privilege and subtle forms of oppression.
... There were two dominant or 'stock' drinking narratives circulating in the culture that served as meta narratives for drinking behaviour (Bell & Roberts, 2010;Somers, 1994). We discuss each below and then consider three counter narratives (Fivush, 2010) that were revealed privately in the interviews but could not be told publicly. ...
... Participants reported conflicting 'points of articulation among culture, lived experience and storytelling' (Gubrium & Holstein, 1998, p. 167). 'Concealed' stories served as analytic tools that shed light on these conflicts, revealing the underside of stock stories (Bell & Roberts, 2010). The two dominant narratives that drinking is fun and that it facilitates emotional intimacy and empowerment were challenged by three 'tragic' counter narratives that focused on themes of rejection, bullying, shame, and social isolation. ...
In this paper, we offer narrative inquiry as a methodology for understanding how women student athletes ‘do’ sport-related drinking. 11 women student athletes took part in individual face-to-face interviews each approximately one hour in duration. Data were analysed via structural and thematic narrative analysis to identify public and private narratives, narrative tensions and narrative silences. Findings are presented in the form of analytical abstraction (Story analyst) and creative non-fiction (Storyteller) to both discuss and show theoretical understandings. Two public narratives, ‘Drinking adventures’ and ‘We are family,’ were identified as meta narratives via which women student athletes learn how to ‘do’ drinking. However, three private, counter narratives, ‘Fresher do this,’ ‘Know your limits,’ and ‘The Ghost story,’ revealed narrative tensions and contradictions. These findings provide new insights into the nuances, complexities, and power dynamics surrounding women student athletes’ drinking practices and can be used to inform more specifically tailored health interventions.
... Since our proposed approach is primarily based on storytelling-not only as a design method but also as an effective method for better undersetting human beings-we further propose following the suggestion provided by Bell [48,67], that a next step in addressing ageism in design and society can be through creating active groups that investigate ageism in stories. The role of these groups would be to generate guidelines for discussing age stories and the meanings of ageism in them. ...
In a world with an increasingly aging population, design researchers and practitioners can play an essential role in shaping better future societies, by designing environments, tools, and services that positively influence older adults' everyday experiences. The World Health Organization (WHO) has proposed a framework called Healthy Ageing, which can be adopted as the basis for designing for an aging society. There are, however, many challenges in achieving this goal. This article addresses one of these challenges identified by WHO, which is overcoming ageism as a form of discrimination based on age. In contrast with most other types of discrimination, ageism is not always easy to detect and overcome because of its generally implicit nature. This paper investigates adopting storytelling as a method for detecting implicit ageism and proposes a co-design process that utilizes this method to better address older adults' needs and requirements. The use of this method is discussed through two example case studies aimed at improving the design of assistive services and technologies for aging people. The findings from these case studies indicate that the proposed method can help co-design teams better identify possible implicit ageist biases and, by doing so, try to overcome them in the design process.
... Arts can be an important vehicle for engaging civic issues of direct relevance to the social, cultural, political, and economic conditions affecting children and youth (Abu El-Haj, 2009;Bell & Roberts, 2010;Fisher, 2005aFisher, , 2005bKuttner, 2016;Rhoades, 2012). Forms of civic learning that go beyond the cognitive to engage young people physically, emotionally, and aesthetically-embodied approaches-offer new forms of critical, justice oriented, culturally sustaining, civic education practice. ...
The social contexts committee of the NAEd Panel on Civic Reasoning and Discourse explores the connections between the social and political contexts structuring youth experience in the United States and globally, and how those experiences relate to the opportunities for and enactments of civic discourse and reasoning in the United States. In this chapter, the authors highlight three interwoven aspects of context that are under-explored in the traditional research on civic education—structural inequality, migration, and violence. The goal is to better understand how social and political contexts shape civic learning differentially. This understanding is necessary to develop meaningful classroom approaches to civic reasoning and dialogue.
... The inclusion of diverse voices in this dialogue can also shed light on how race intersects with other social locations such as gender, sexual orientation, religion or socioeconomic status, to influence one's personal experience(s) of oppression (Collins, 2000). The process also offers an opportunity to build connections across individual experiences to reveal how racism functions at the broader social level (Bell & Roberts, 2010). ...
... The voices of those who are marginalized and stigmatized reveal lessons on invisible social barriers and struggles but can also be a testament to self-affirmation and resiliency in response to oppression. Voices of resistance illustrate possible solutions to battle racism through inclusive social practice, while other voices aim to deconstruct and challenge the racial status quo and promote social change (Bell & Roberts, 2010;Strack et al., 2004). In this way, ABR can move beyond merely reflecting on social conditions toward actively changing them. ...
The article provides an overview of arts-based research (ABR) within social work and general healthcare practice in Canada, and how it can be used to uncover racism within vulnerable populations, particularly youth, women, immigrants and refugees, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI) community, and Indigenous peoples. This is a general review of the literature. A literature search was conducted using the University of Western Ontario’s Summons database, with coverage from January 2000 to February 2019. Data exploring participant experiences, personal identity, voice, and invisible powers were extracted, and analyzed using a critical race lens to examine the intersection of societal and cultural practice with race and power.Results indicate that ABR can support therapeutic recovery from oppression by enhancing self-expression of feelings and thoughts, and affording participants the agency to reclaim and reframe their personal narrative. ABR can further generate a sense of community by creating connections between participants with similar oppressions to overcome disconnection and marginalization. Within a broader community context, ABR permits the sharing of stories and insights with others, which can generate dialogue on important social issues to expose areas of social inequity and oppression alongside potential solutions for transformative social action. This dialogue can also extend to discussions with policy makers on the impact of social inequities to guide recommendations that address system gaps for broader community-level change. The paper concludes that ABR can move beyond merely reflecting on social conditions toward actively addressing them by promoting sustainable social change. The voices expressed through ABR illustrate possible solutions to overcome racism through inclusive social practice, deconstruction of the racial status quo, and movement toward an equitable distribution of power.
... Scholars apply the theory to understand how society organizes itself along racial lines and hierarchies, which can function indiscernibly (L. Bell & Roberts, 2010), and make appeals for transforming society for the better (Delgado & Stefancic, 2012). ...
The disparity between the race and ethnicity of teachers and students is expected to increase as our nation and classrooms continue to become more racially, ethnically , linguistically, and economically diverse. It is extremely important to think about not only the educational needs of such a diverse student population within schools but also who will teach these students. However, when looking at subject-matter specificity for the retention of Teachers of Color, such as science teachers, the picture becomes extremely serious when we understand teachers' paths into and out of science and teaching.
The purpose of the study is to analyze the experiences of preservice Teachers of Color (PTOC) enrolled in an elementary science methods course as they gain access to science as White property. Our analysis provides evidence that PTOC can break the perpetual cycle of alienation, exclusion, and inequity in science when they are given opportunities to engage in science as learners and teachers. In addition, we also offer insights regarding the role science teacher educators may play in preparing teachers and especially TOC for urban schools.
... This is recognized in numerous veins of education literature showing (via a variety of loosely connected families of theory) that learning, discovery, connection-making, and the resultant transformational, generative, and creative thinking are accelerated and reinforced by arts-based methods in the classroom. Additionally, the arts have figured prominently in efforts to advance social justice education (Bell & Roberts, 2010;Campana, 2011;Clover, 2006;Dewhurst, 2011;Garber, 2005;Helguera, 2011;McGregor, 2012;T. Quinn, Ploof, & Hochtritt, 2012). ...
This article will stretch the boundaries of the interdisciplinary lens to consider the history of and current potential for the arts to enhance, advance, and amplify individual, family, and community social change goals of the social work profession. To begin, consider the following questions: What would inspire artists and social workers to intentionally work together to reveal new strengths, energy, and capacity in the areas we care about? What do the arts have to teach the profession of social work and vice versa? How have the arts already played a role in the profession, and what has impaired social work’s ability to make greater use of the strengths associated with the arts? How have other professions (public health, psychology, education, and others) incorporated partnerships with the arts? This article concludes with a call to action to advance the potential of the arts in coordination with social work and related disciplines.
... From dialogic spaces for students to increase their understanding of racism (Flynn, 2012;M. Taylor & Otinsky, 2006), to critical engagement with storytelling (Bell & Roberts, 2010;Castagno, 2008), and the use of theatre and the arts to teach students about human rights, immigration, and internalized racism (Hanley, 2011;Gutiérrez-Vicario, 2016), the research provided classroom-level illustrations of curricula that opened possibilities for productive conversations and engagement around race, racism, and antiracism. ...
While organizing efforts by movements such as Black Lives Matter and responses to the hate-filled policies and rhetoric of President Donald Trump are heightening public discourse of racism, much less attention is paid to mechanisms of racial oppression in the field of education. Instead, conceptualizations that allude to racial difference but are disconnected from structural analyses continue to prevail in K–12 education research. In this chapter, our goal is to challenge racism-neutral and racism-evasive approaches to studying racial disparities by centering current research that makes visible the normalized facets of racism in K–12 schools. After narrowing over 4,000 articles that study racial inequity in education research, we reviewed a total of 186 U.S.-focused research studies in a K–12 school context that examine racism. As we categorized the literature, we built on a theory of the “new racism”—a more covert and hidden racism than that of the past—and grouped the articles into two main sections: (1) research that brings to light racism’s permanence and significance in the lives of students of Color through manifestations of what we conceptualize as (a) evaded racism, (b) “antiracist” racism, and (c) everyday racism and (2) research focused on confronting racism through racial literacy and the resistance of communities of Color. In our conclusion, we articulate suggestions for future directions in education research that include a more direct acknowledgement of racism as we attend to the experiences and needs of K–12 students of Color.
... As such, successful teachers do not rely solely on traditional ways of teaching in classrooms (Nugent, Malik, & Hollingsworth, 2012). Similarly, Bell and Roberts (2010) reported how a team of scholars and researchers from different disciplines collaborated under a storytelling project to change the narrative of racism among their students. They surmised that stories could act as a bridge that will help students connect to their learning. ...
