Am handbook

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Autobiographical Methodologies e-Book. Edited by CIAPE – Centro Italiano per l’apprendimento permanente.

This e-book has been edited by CIAPE – Centro Italiano per l’Apprendimento Permanente,

as a compendium of the most important information debated during the training course

“Autobiographical Methodology in adult education”.

Author: Andrea Ciantar, sociologist, expert and trainer in autobiographical methodologies.

Creative Commons Licence – Non-commercial Licence – Non Derived Works

(http://creativecommons.org/worldwide).

For a more extensive knowledge, please refer to the Bibliography.

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Index of contents

Autobiography in nutshell.................................................................................................. 3

Autobiographical methodologies as support for learning processes ........... 4

Concept of Lifelong learning ............................................................................................. 4

Adults and lifelong learning .............................................................................................. 4

Transformative learning .................................................................................................... 5

Learning forms ................................................................................................................. 6

Guiding Principles for effective autobiographical teaching and didactics ......................... 7

Exercise: “The time I learned” .......................................................................................... 9

Autobiography as self-care ............................................................................................... 9

Remembering ................................................................................................................... 9

Variety of Autobiographical narrative forms .................................................................... 10

The reasons behind autobiographical education ............................................................ 10

Methods facilitating effective autobiographical paths ..................................................... 11

Autobiographical methodologies in active citizenship ...................................... 12

The Concept of Active Citizenship ................................................................................. 12

Narrating life story as a form of knowledge .................................................................... 14

Memories for intergenerational and intercultural work .................................................... 14

Can we learn from experience? ..................................................................................... 14

Developing critical knowledge, breaking through the social myths ................................. 15

Memory is a bridge ......................................................................................................... 15

Different forms of active citizenship and participation connected with memory .............. 15

A guide map for autobiography ..................................................................................... 16

Bibliography ....................................................................................................................... 18

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Autobiography in nutshell

Everyone has a story to tell. Each

recounting of an episode in our life

becomes a story in which each of us and

others play a part (Randall, 1995).

An event on the way home from work is

detailed; a betrayal of a friend is

described. In our story, characters

emerge as if on a stage, each carrying his

or her own part: “She turned me down;

hope was gone, and so I left.” But when

we begin the task of transcribing our life

into text—of writing our story—we move

beyond the set stage and bear witness to

the wider theatre of our life. We begin to

view these scenes differently, and to

discern the pattern that connects them.

We look back and then we look ahead,

and in this sense, we become both actor

and director of the part that is the rest of

our life.

Autobiography is most recognized and

researched as a literary rather than an

educational tool. It emerged at the end of

the 18th century from a tradition that has

variously been called a “memoir” or

“confession” (the most notable being the

religious Confessions of St. Augustine).

Later, it developed among writers into a

self-analysis, less related to sin and

transgression and more to intimacy,

emotion, and self-understanding (Feski,

1998). In the past quarter century it has

commanded even greater attention,

through the psychoanalytic and

philosophical analysis in James Olney’s

(1980) edited writings, and in feminist

literary analysis, as in Smith and

Watson’s (1996, 1998) edited collections.

Howarth (1980) described autobiography

as a “self-portrait”—a work of art that

resembles the life that itself continues to

take shape. Following from Howarth’s

definition, one could surmise that adult

learners (like their literary counterparts)

who reflect on their lives in this manner

embark also on a process of recollection,

distillation, and analysis that can yield

both insight into life’s meaning and

purpose and understanding of self and

others.

Learning in the service of self-awareness

and self-understanding involves deeper

levels of the person; it entails the

processes of critical reflection, self-

awareness, meaning making, and

perspective change (Mezirow, 1991;

Tennant & Pogson, 1995).

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Autobiographical

methodologies as support

for learning processes

Concept of Lifelong learning

The European Council held in Lisbon in

March 2000 marked a decisive moment

for the direction of policy and action in the

European Union. Its conclusions affirmed

that Europe had indisputably moved into

the Knowledge Age, with all that this will

imply for cultural, economic and social

life.

Patterns of learning, living and working

are changing apace. This means not

simply that individuals must adapt to

change, but equally that established ways

of doing things must change too.

The move towards lifelong learning must

accompany a successful transition to a

knowledge-based economy and society.

Therefore, Europe’s education and

training systems are at the heart of the

coming changes. They too, must adapt.

The conclusions of the Feira European

Council invite the “Member States, the

Council and the Commission … within

their areas of competence, to identify

coherent strategies and practical

measures with a view to fostering lifelong

learning for all”.

Lifelong learning is no longer just one

aspect of education and training; it must

become the guiding principle for provision

and participation across the full

continuum of learning contexts.

Adults and lifelong learning

A person never is but is always becoming

his or her self (Jung, 1954; Kegan, 1982).

Development is directed towards greater

inclusiveness, complexity, and coherence

of personality (Kegan, 1982; Labouvie-

Vief, 1994; Mezirow, 1991).

Jung (1954) described this process as

“individuation”—becoming all that one is

capable of becoming; Erikson (1980)

called it “integrity”—coming to terms with

our life, a task that entails encompassing

into our perspective more that just our

own histories.

Adult learning theory posits that, whereas

much of adult learning parallels that of the

younger school-aged population, adults

(as well as many adolescents) have the

capacity for transformative learning. It is

learning that permits a more inclusive,

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differentiated, and integrated view of

themselves and the world (Mezirow,

1991; Tennant & Pogson, 1995).

Transformative learning

A central feature of transformative

learning is critical self-reflection, a

process whereby adults examine the

cultural and individual assumptions and

meanings that underlie and shape their

view of life (Brookfield, 1986; Mezirow,

1991). Whereas critical reflection calls

largely upon the learner’s rational

processes (Mezirow, 1991), it includes

both intuitive and emotional dimensions

as well (Dewey, 1964; Schon, 1983).

It appears, however, that attention to the

personal aspects of the learner is central

not only to transformative learning but

also to learning in general.

For instance, writing in the context of

common education, Elizabeth Vallance

(1986) built on the earlier work of art

educator Elliot Eisner, and argued that

effective education should incorporate

both the discipline-related (objective)

approaches and the personal-relevance

(subjective) approaches. Similarly,

Maxine Greene (1978) suggested that

learning should incorporate the learner’s

personal “landscapes.” And John Dewey

(1964) emphasized that learning ought to

be “an experience” for the individual,

which then remains as an enduring

memory that is both valued and

significant.

In sum, curriculum theorists have

acknowledged the importance of

addressing the personal dimensions of

the learner and of encompassing into the

educational process both their “outside”

and their “inside” worlds.

In autobiography we transform our life

into a story. As Gusdorf (1980) explained:

“The author of an autobiography gives

himself the job of narrating his own

history; what he sets out to do is to

reassemble the scattered elements of his

individual life and to regroup them in a

comprehensive sketch (p. 35).

Autobiography differs from a private

journal that records the writer’s

experiences, impressions, and mental

states. Rather, it requires one to take a

distance with regard to oneself, to draw

the meaning from one’s life (Gusdorf,

1980), to reconstruct “the unity of a life

across time” (Gusdorf, 1980, p. 37), and

to find the “larger story” that distinguishes

one’s life from that of another (Houston,

1987).

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Learning in these contexts results from

finding patterns and meaning in our life,

perhaps even building a theory of our life,

or of life in general. Having stepped back

and reflected, we know something now

that we did not know before. Our

knowledge has been extended (Olney,

1980).

In sum, these theoretical propositions

hold that learning and development

continue throughout life, and that both

may be enhanced by activities such as

autobiographical writing. Because

autobiography involves not only

recounting memories and expressions but

also finding their larger meaning, and to

the extent that the activity expands the

individual’s knowledge of self and the

world, it constitutes learning.

The usefulness of telling one’s story is

that it provides an occasion and

instrument for learning.

We learn from our own stories, giving

value to our experiences and making the

hidden and implicit knowledge that is in

each one of us visible.

Learning forms

Educational contexts and related forms of

learning are traditionally divided into three

main typologies:

• formal learning, which includes the

traditional school system and all those

training programmes leading to formal

certification;

• non-formal learning, which includes all

those educational paths which – while

structured and organized – do not lead

to an educational qualification. Such

paths are above all typical of Adult

Education.;

• informal education and learning,

“Learning resulting from daily life

activities related to work, family or

leisure. It is not structured (in terms of

learning objectives, learning time or

learning support) and typically does

not lead to certification. Informal

learning may be intentional but in

most cases it is non-intentional” (or

“incidental”/random). Commission of

the European Communities (2001: 32-

33)

"Life is the thing that happens to us while

we are busy making other plans.”

Informal learning, we might say by

paraphrasing De Mello, happens while we

go about our daily lives. But this does not

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mean that it is less important than other

forms of learning – on the contrary, we

will see that in some ways informal

learning is a unique and indispensable

part in the life of an individual and society.

When we consider the context, we see –

as the definition cited above affirms – that

informal learning occurs in many

experiences and aspects of life, such as:

• from experiences connected to

work, as well as leisure time and

play;

• from art, books, cinema, music;

• from a trip – which is, as we well

know, one of the most important

sources of informal learning;

• from people we love, from our

relationships, encountering others;

• from the many forms of

communication, through the mass

media and the web;

• also from contact with nature and

through our body, trying to

rediscover inner equilibrium.

The fact of undergoing experiences –

even extraordinary ones – is not a

guarantee that we will be able to learn

appropriate lessons from them.

Educators and teachers can, however, try

to offer ad hoc tools and approaches –

informal and non formal – helping

individuals to effectively exploit and

develop experiences of informal learning.

Just as they can contribute to creating

contexts for effective informal learning.

Guiding Principles for effective

autobiographical teaching and

didactics

• Memory is a cognitive activity.

• Cultivating memory is the basis of

all education.

• Cultivating memory activates

various kinds of expressive

languages (technical-procedural,

descriptive, but also the language

of novels and poetry).

• Cultivating memory invites us to

think about other people’s

memories.

• Cultivating memory means

growing emotionally, since

remembering is also a feeling.

(Demetrio, Borgonovi, Teaching to

Remember Ourself: the Autobiographical

Methodology, Springerlink 2005)

Different aspects are connected with the

rules of autobiographical methodologies

as support for learning processes:

1) Know your way of thinking.

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The cognitive autobiography can

help answering critical questions

for adult learning, related precisely

to its relationship with knowledge:

How does my mind work in certain

situations? What is my cognitive

style? What kind of limits and

blocks do my thoughts meet?

2) Reconstruct your past story.

This is a way to reorganize

individual identity: Who am I? How

can I represent my past training?

What do I want to be here and

now? What plans do I have for the

future?

3) Ability to continue learning.

Adults should continue and learn

all lifelong. Rediscovering a story

to share might open possible

different scenario for the future,

supporting the possibility of

change, as well as the realization

of dreams. “The desire to learn

comes from a desire to be, and

perhaps be other than what it is"

(The time I learned, Gamelli,

Formenti, p.121).

Autobiographical methods are very

important in non formal and informal

learning, as tools enabling learners to

manage their learning experiences

autonomously. They can also provide

positive inputs to some educational

challenges…

• First challenge: bringing to the

surface our implicit knowledge and

ideas about ourselves and the

world around us.

How can we bring to the surface implicit

beliefs about ourselves and the world, in

order to become conscious of them and –

if the case– to transform them?

This becomes even more important in a

multi-cultural society, where identity –

even in adulthood – must be re-defined

and continuously adapted to changing

circumstances, especially in relation to

professional life.

• Second informal learning

challenge: developing critical

knowledge, breaking social myths

and stereotypes.

An age-old challenge is involved,

because the human being is always

embedded in a certain culture and in pre-

existing symbolic codes. Everyone should

feel free from such codes, free to create

new ones, to bring culture back to its

function of “tool”, “mean” more than “end”.

• Third challenge: taking back

control of the “means” of doing.

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If informal learning is a place for self-

organized and spontaneous learning – for

self-development – can it also become an

occasion for individuals, groups and

communities to develop and take back

control of their own “means/tools” of

doing?

(Three challenges for informal learning in

Europe, Andrea Ciantar; Speech for

Contact Seminar National Italian LLP

Agency, 2010).

Exercise: “The time I learned”

• Try to recall a time in your life

when you learned something

important for you.

• What happened?

• What made the learning possible?

What kind of processes did

activate such learning (mental,

physical, relational, social, casual,

etc.)?

• Why is this memory still important

for you today? What are the most

important aspects of that

experience that you still remind?

• How do you think this learning can

be interesting also for other people

in general?

Autobiography as self-care

The autobiographical methodologies are,

since many years, a very important

teaching method in non-formal and

informal adult education. Actually,

narrating and writing down own individual

story represents - for adult learners – a

way to enhance life experiences, allowing

implicit learning coming out, and so

making life experiences become learning

opportunities.

Remembering

The mere fact of beginning to remember

and talk about one’s recollections is the

first step towards self-valorisation.

It means discovering that each one owns

his/her own unique heritage.

Remembering is a kind of reconstruction,

an attempt to find a meaning: “… every

man and woman mindfully grows in

relation to his or her ability to reprocess

the past as a resource for the present…”

(Demetrio, Borgonovi, Teaching to

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Remember Ourself: the Autobiographical

Methodology, Springerlink 2005)

Variety of Autobiographical

narrative forms

There are several autobiographical

narrative forms. The main forms are:

autobiography memoirs, epistolary,

journals and diaries. But there are also

new forms, such as personal notes,

blogs, letters and e-mails, etc., used to

state private feelings and thoughts about

oneself.

“Autobiography represents a unique

example, with implications not present in

the other cited forms. It is not, in fact, a

spontaneous narration: it requires efforts,

patience, diligence, a willingness to go

back over an existential path whose

tracks have been lost. Supposedly, the

autobiographical method soothes and

creates self-esteem.” (Demetrio,

Borgonovi, 2005).

“Writing about oneself (….) teaches one

to coexist both with pain and life’s most

secretive and intense moments. A

relationship with suffering, as with beauty,

explored through writing about oneself, is

a source of maturity and improvement.”

(Demetrio, Borgonovi, 2005).

From a pedagogical view, the

autobiographical approach is focused on

the conscious dimension of activities

related to thinking.

“…without neglecting that every personal

writing always conceals unconscious,

symbolic and hidden dimensions under its

immediate semantics, in the

autobiographical genre we search for

forms that express awareness of one’s

self and of the world.” (Demetrio,

Borgonovi, 2005).

This allows us to say that:

“Although autobiographies and journals

are at the core of writing about oneself,

we trace all types of narrator-focused

writing – short, epigrammatic, formal, in

prose or poetic – to the “autobiographical

genre”. (Demetrio, Borgonovi, 2005).

The reasons behind

autobiographical education

There are many aspects stressing the

importance of autobiographical education.

• Meta-cognitive

Rethinking our educational

pathway allows us to discover

ourselves as capable of thinking,

as well as capable to learn and do.

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• Revitalization

Testifying our existence and our

history within a context of listeners

has a strong motivational effect.

Reviving and renewing own

emotions is connected to "feeling"

again individual life experiences.

• Heuristic

Autobiography allows us to explain

and "give a sense" to experiences,

forming connections and enabling

to build new meaningful models or

renewing existing ones.

• Training

Reconstruction of our

autobiography and identity,

integrating past learning

experiences, might make new

training needs emerge.

• Change

The resonances of

autobiographical recognition may

produce significant changes in a

person (Formenti 1998).

“… autobiographical writing might

improve relationships through empathy

and better understanding of others.

Besides, people who regularly put down

their own experiences, emotions and

thoughts, on paper, and acquire a habit of

self-reflection, can act with greater

deliberation and self-control and pay

more attention to the needs of others.”

(Demetrio, Borgonovi, 2005).

Methods facilitating effective

autobiographical paths

Memory list

“Towards the plot” is an exercise in which

a learner is asked to recall memories of

significant events. Those memories can

then be reorganised in a sequence or in a

specific order, thus building a possible

plot of our story.

Memories can be of various kinds, as for

instance:

• Encounters: in each life story

encounters with other persons

represent a source of change;

• Moments of life connected with the

main spheres of human life: love,

work, play- leisure, death, etc.;

• Turning points, where there have

been significant changes;

• Wounds, moments of success, etc.

Facilitating reflective processes

Learners should be guided in their

pathway leading to:

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• The emergence of implicit beliefs

about the world and themselves;

• The processing: verifying the

adequacy of implicit beliefs about

the world and themselves;

Some key questions:

“What kind of implicit beliefs do you think

this experience has generated?”

“In particular, what are the implicit beliefs

about yourself?”

Every experience generates implicit

beliefs about the world. Most importantly,

they can produce beliefs about us,

especially the negative ones, which often

represent an obstacle to self-esteem.

For what concerns the “processing”

phase, learners might be asked:

“Looking at these implicit beliefs today, do

you think that they are valid and

appropriate, or - in the light of your

current awareness – do they seem wrong

or limited to you?”

“How this experience can be still

important for you today? What kind of

reflection, open question or learning does

it live open?”

“How do you think that this experience

can be important also for other people?”

Autobiographical

methodologies in active

citizenship

The Concept of Active

Citizenship

There is no universally accepted

definition of Active Citizenship and no

standard model of what an active citizen

is. But there is general agreement that it

refers to the involvement of individuals in

public life and affairs. This can take place

at local, national and international levels.

The term is used especially at local level

to refer to citizens who become actively

involved in the life of their communities

tackling problems or bringing about

change or resisting unwanted change.

Active citizens are those who develop the

skills, knowledge and understanding to be

able to make informed decisions about

their communities and workplaces with

the aim of improving the quality of life in

these. At national level it can move from

voting to being involved in campaigning

pressure groups to being a member of a

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political party. At international level the

global active citizen may be involved in

movements to promote sustainability or

fair trade, to reduce poverty or eliminate

slavery.

An active citizen is not necessarily a

‘good citizen’ in the sense that they follow

the rules or behave in a certain way. An

active citizen may challenge the rules and

existing structures although they should

generally stay within the bounds of

democratic processes and not become

involved in violent acts. There is a

general set of values and dispositions

that can be associated with active

democratic citizenship including respect

for justice, democracy and the rule of law,

openness, tolerance, courage to defend a

point of view and a willingness to listen to,

work with and stand up for others.

We can identify some key characteristics

of Active Citizenship:

• Participation in the community

(involvement in a voluntary activity

or engaging with local government

agencies)

• People are empowered to play a

part in the decisions and

processes that affect them,

particularly public policy and

services

• Knowledge and understanding of

the political/social/economic

context of their participation so that

they can make informed decisions

• Able to challenge policies or

actions and existing structures on

the basis of principles such as

equality, inclusiveness, diversity

and social justice.

Narrating and writing down own story is -

for adult learners – a way to enhance

their life experiences, but - at the same

time – it represents also a possibility to

share stories with others, giving a

personal contribution to the society.

Stories give individuals the opportunity to

“take the floor”, to express their ideas and

narrate the experiences of which they

have been the protagonists.

The power of stories lies in the fact that –

through the experiences narrated – they

can make us familiar with many invisible

and little known realities. Stories bring us

knowledge in a very direct and emotional

way. We understand macro-historical

events through micro-stories.

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Another very important aspect of working

with memory and citizenship deals with

intercultural dialogue. Memories and life

stories help us to learn about “the other”,

thus representing a mean to curb racism

and xenophobia.

Narrating life story as a form

of knowledge

Narrating personal stories is a mean to

share and make others know our recent

history, through the direct power and

vividness of people who have

experienced such events.

Through the stories, actually, we can

learn about many aspects of the reality,

which are rarely given space in the mass

media or in other information channels.

However, it is not a question only of what

we know but also of how we know. Telling

one’s story, in fact, makes it possible to

experience history in a direct, emotional

and involving way. This way of learning

must of course always be accompanied

by more organized and “objective”

knowledge, but stories can create doors

that invite us to enter spheres of

contemporary and historical realities in a

more involving way.

Memories for

intergenerational and

intercultural work

One very important aspect of the

educational role that the memories can

play today is that it can definitely

contribute to knowledge of the different

worlds and the diverse cultures that make

up present-day European society (and

the world as well).

The culture of xenophobia, fear and

racism is fuelled by the lack of knowledge

of the other, simplification, prejudice and

stereotyping. Encountering the “other”

and learning about his world in a direct

way is the best way to bring down this

edifice of prejudice, especially in a time

when identity is becoming increasingly

fluid, hybrid, in flux.

In the meantime the practice of narration

can easily facilitate the relation between

people from different generations.

Can we learn from

experience?

Can we learn from the past? We now

know that this by no means happens

“automatically”. After World War II, it was

said that it must never be forgotten so as

to avoid its ever happening again. But

15/18


even afterwards, other wars and other

genocides have bloodied Europe, and

there is no lack of European responsibility

in many other scenes of horror in other

areas of the world.

As long as our memories can become an

opportunity for true knowledge and

transformation, we must create occasions

for encounter, study and reflection on the

memories we have of the past. Memory

and the practice of storytelling can thus –

when properly promoted – offer

opportunities for learning and can be a

means of developing individual and

collective consciousness.

Developing critical

knowledge, breaking

through the social myths

Can contexts and processes of informal

learning become places where we can

deconstruct social structures based on

unjust premises but which society

presents as “normal”, to then build up

modes of co-existence which are

peaceful and just?

How some social “frenzy” in which we

often participate unawares can become

clear to us? (for example the work-

consumption-work cycle can often have

perverse effects, when we are doing work

that is alienating, in which we find no

meaning, in order to maintain levels of

consumption which we are told will bring

us “happiness”, and then going back to

work in order to consume more, etc. )

Memory is a bridge

The memory that can be a “tool” for the

change of the individuals as well as of the

society is the memory that allow us to “go

trough”, “across” the experiences, thanks

to the act of reflecting, creating meaning

and knowledge.

Like a bridge, the knowledge and

awareness that come from the action of

remembering, can be an occasion for a

better understanding, and for the

valorisation of all those heritage

and values that we inherited from the

past, and that's worth keeping in the

future.

Different forms of active

citizenship and participation

connected with memory

There is a proliferation of “local memory”

projects, in which it is often senior citizens

who play an active role.

16/18


Noteworthy too is the work of

“autobiographical volunteers” – that is,

people of every age and walk of life who

decide to make a contribution to their

community by collecting stories,

especially of those people who – without

their help and support – would find it

difficult to leave behind testimony of their

own lives.

Finally, the importance of the spread of

digital narration and web use should be

stressed, for these tools permit the

participation of vast numbers of people in

the digital archives of stories.

A guide map for

autobiography

The following guidelines may be useful

for anyone wanting to utilize

autobiographical writing with their

students.

a) A publisher has given you the option of

writing five chapters of your life story.

b) Prepare an outline that includes the

chapter titles; consider a title for your

story.

c) Write two pages for each chapter. Try

to move beyond a simple chronology of

events.

d) Pay attention to any metaphor, thread,

pattern, or story that emerges from the

events of your life, like “crossing over” or

“Still Me”.

Student autobiography offers one

opportunity for learners to look into and

around the “I” and to gain a deeper

17/18


understanding of themselves and of their

relationship with others and the world.

Although this learning may not offer them

specific technical skills or discipline-

related knowledge, it does permit a

deeper personal knowing that may even

be transformative.

The act of self-observation and critical

reflection can enlarge their understanding

of the community in which their life

unfolded, the people and events that

have moulded their identities and their

own patterns and responses that have

shaped their life. It may even precipitate a

change in their story, should they attempt

to “escape from older narratives to a new

beginning” (Smith & Watson, 1996, p.

16). Autobiography, to the extent that it

furthers this process, becomes a valued

tool.

...And then when you think about it,

storytelling is the oldest form of education

there is.

18/18


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I. Karpiak, Writing Our Life: Adult Learning and Teaching Through Autobiography,

Oklahoma 2009.

L. Formenti, I. Gamelli, Quella volta che ho imparato, Raffaello Cortina, Milano 1998.

L. Formenti, La formazione autobiografica, Guerini, Milano, 1998.

D. Demetrio, A. Ciantar, Scritture Erranti, Edup, Roma, 2002.

L. Formenti, I. Gamelli, Quella volta che ho imparato, Raffaello Cortina, Milano 1998.

L. Formenti, La formazione autobiografica, Guerini, Milano, 1998.

Am handbook

Education

autobiographical methodologies

autobiographical education

learning forms

lapprendimento permanente

ciape centro italiano

learning processes

concept of lifelong

transformative learning