Short Abstract:

The current research aims to explore the democratic potential of narrative imagination (Nussbaum, 2008) inquiring students' self-narratives on real and ideal flourishing opportunities. Through a narrative-appreciative design, the project involves voluntary students from three courses of Padua University in “WONDER”, a generative dialogue on human development towards an open flourishing manifesto.

Long Abstract:

Liquid modernity (Bauman, 2002) has been determining such rapid, as well as elusive, socio-political changes to imply a condition of human oppression (Freire, 1973), where the citizen has been trapped in a standardized system, deprived of the possibility of developing personal potentials of being and doing (Sen, 1990, 1993, 2005).

In this scenario, education, as the main expression of society (Dewey, 1949, 1961), invests new but eternal ecosystemic responsibilities: educating for social justice, equity and freedom (Nussbaum, 1997, 2002).

Nevertheless, a paradox is rooted in the educational systems, especially those of higher education: academic success and economic progress still remain the priority objectives with respect to individual fulfillment and community well-being, thus immolating personal aspirations for satisfying prefixed ambitions that are often unsustainable for the promotion of an adequate quality of life. As a result, students’ narratives on human rights and flourishing opportunities turn out totally neglected, and students complain about feeling completely alone in their learning paths, detached from any (inter)personal belonging (Rosales, Frangioni & Marroccoli, 2019).

In this frame, more and more university students are demanding for a shift of perspective, from performative to generative, where educational contexts finally support emerging individual and relational capabilities that, through appropriate resources, can become effective functionings (Volstad et al, 2020). In this sense, higher education needs to better respond to the role of empowering students’ right of living in a world that is worth living in (Walker, 2009).

But, how to deal with this urgent need?

One possibility has been suggested by Nussbaum (2008), according to whom a fundamental tool for the democratic cultivation of society corresponds to “narrative imagination”, that is, the ability to interpret one’s own history and empathize with that of others, imagining better life scenarios for each, for all. According to this perspective, self-narratives are significant means for one’s capabilities, as well as interpretative tools of personal aspirations on the ancient εὐδαιμονία (eudaimonia), in the sense of flourishing life (D'Olimpio, 2022; Duraiappah et al., 2022).

Considering these premises, our research aims to answer the following questions: which are the opportunities of flourishing currently offered by University, according to students’ self-narratives? Which are the ideal opportunities aspired by the students? Which common flourishing dimensions equally emerge from students’ narratives? And, in which ways can self-narratives support students’ personal flourishing within the University contexts?

Therefore, the current research explores students’ self-narratives on flourishing opportunities in educational contexts, with the aim of inquiring and interpreting personal, as well as interpersonal, meanings that open the way to a democratic space of sharing ideas and ideals about positive human development.

The principal purposes are discovering flourishing experiences emerging from undergraduate students’ narratives; learning about students' aspirations of flourishing by enhancing practices of narration through appreciation; engaging students to co-create their flourishing manifest, in the form of an Open Educational Resource (OER), shareable with the university students’ representatives, in order to make this topic a communitarian discussion since living well in education is a right that regards each of us, all of us.

Driven by the lens of the Interpretivist paradigm, our research adopts a methodological blend of Narrative Inquiry and Appreciative Inquiry, featuring a sensitive focus on human development. Indeed, this unique combination looks for finding actions and policies that are needed to guarantee the empowerment of everyone’s capabilities (Sen & Nussbaum, 1993).

In particular, the first methodology employs self-narratives as in-depth living data, means of understanding individuals’ perspectives (Connelly and Clandinin, 1990); while the second methodology seeks for images of the possible within personal storytelling, through a strength-based frame and a 4-D cycle design (Whitney & Cooperrider, 1998). These four distinct steps precisely delineate the various phases of our research.

In the initial phase, referred to as Discovery, our aim is to investigate "what is." To achieve this, we conducted a Systematic Literature Review following the PRISMA Statement (Page et al., 2021). This review delves into the evolving concept of human flourishing and explores its potential connections with self-narration as documented in existing studies. Drawing on the qualitative findings from this review, we have developed an exploratory questionnaire focused on well-being and self-narration. This questionnaire is set to be administered to 340 undergraduate students across three distinct humanistic courses at Padua University. Participation is voluntary, respecting the principles of freedom of expression and the ethical considerations of the autobiographical pact (Formenti, 2009). Inspired by the Flourish Project (Ellyatt, 2022), the questionnaire incorporates a mix of open and closed questions, aligning with a concurrent embedded strategy.

The second phase, termed Dream, aims to envision "what might be." It commences with organized focus groups (Biggeri, Di Masi & Bellacicco, 2020) for each course. During these sessions, key themes derived from statistical and thematic analyses of the questionnaire are deliberated, paving the way for generative reflections.

Moving on to the third phase, known as Design, a novel design proposal engages each student group: WONDER, an acronym representing Ways of Narrating Enjoyable Didactic Routes. This narrative journey, guided by an appreciative framework, explores students' artifacts and stories related to past, present, and future experiences, along with opportunities for flourishing in education.

Finally, the fourth phase, termed Destiny, consolidates the preceding steps and addresses "what will be." In this context, a structured focus group convenes with all students from the three courses. The objective is to collectively formulate a "flourishing manifesto" to be shared with student representatives, transforming it into an accessible resource for the entire community.

In this sense, our bottom-up approach embraces the perspective of “Grassroot Innovation” (Belda-Miquel, Pellicer-Sifres & Boni, 2020), since it advocates for a circular and integrated dialogue between individuality and relationality, aiming for the dual objectives of equality and personal fulfillment in higher education.

Consequently, we expect to provide students with the opportunity to contemplate their optimal functionings by delving into autobiographical epistemologies and personal telos, foundational elements for a flourishing and connective WONDER, with the meaning of inquiry but also marvel.