Personal digital storytelling as a tool for nonviolent educational environments

Abstract

This doctoral thesis presents a qualitative investigation where the focus is set on the use of Personal Digital Storytelling as a tool for promoting nonviolent educational environments. The first part of this work offers a comprehensive theoretical framework, regarding the concepts of violence, nonviolence, empathy, and their relation to peace education. The concepts of communication, storytelling, narrative and autobiography, are revisited, as well as their importance in people’s life in general, and in education, in specific. In addition, digital storytelling is characterized as a multimodal, non interactive, non-professional and personal multimedia product, which can be developed by diverse types of students, under different educational circumstances. To fulfill the proposed research questions and objectives, an interpretative and participative point of view was used, combining quantitative research as a backdrop (using inbound and outbound surveys), and qualitative approach of case study as the main method. Three interventions were planned and oriented by the same investigator. One intervention in a secondary school in Mexico City in 2015, and two interventions at the University of Barcelona. One intervention was carried out in 2015 with undergraduate students, and the last one in 2016 with master’s students. Due to the exploratory nature of the study, and after reviewing different methodological proposals, we decided to apply the traditional (and most known) approach for creating personal digital stories (developed by the former Center for Digital Storytelling), since we wanted to see what characteristics of the methodology may or may not be applied for this type of interventions. Each intervention is analyzed, and the characteristics of the realization procedure and the resulting products are described, as well as the conditions, limitations, and educational contribution of the application of the methodology in their specific academic contexts. Besides, from each intervention, one product is withdrawn as a case study for further analysis, and to exemplify the possibilities of the methodology. This work was made under the direction of Dr. Isabella Loiodice, on the Culture, Education, Communication conjunct doctoral program from the Università degli Studi Roma Tre and Università degli Studi di Foggia in Italy. And also, under the co-direction of Dr. José Luis Rodríguez Illera, from the Pedagogy Faculty at Barcelona University, with the support of the Digital Education Observatory (OED), and the Education and Virtual Learning Research Group (GREAV). The research pretends to contribute to the knowledge relation between personal digital storytelling - as a lifelong learning educational instrument - that serves for developing students’ life skills and competences (in addition to the technological or communicative skills), and the promotion of personal expression, allowing the self-recognition, and acknowledgement by others; but most of all as an effective tool for promoting nonviolence values and ideas, fostering empathy as a prime skill. And at the same time, to understanding the way in which digital stories can be implemented as part of alternative socio-educational interventions, designed within the 21st Century Skills for the Knowledge Society framework, and the Peace Education Programs.