Enriching Young People's Deficit-Oriented Personal Stories through Co-construction in Storytelling-Based Research

Abstract:This article describes an approach to data collection—termed narrative co-construction—developed during a study on the perspectives of young people attending an inner-city school located in Winnipeg, Manitoba It presents a practical method for implementing this process through the combined use of two tools, Journey Mapping and Co-Constructed Tree of Life Mapping A typology of stories (based on the field of narrative therapy) is also presented This work contributes to methodological understandings of storytelling-based research and is particularly relevant to those who, drawing on Freirean philosophy, seek to study both the material and subjective dimensions of phenomena Further, it details an approach for working with young people that helps them identify their own strengths, capacities, resources, and preferred stories of self.