47 Emergence of Appreciative Storytelling: A Hybrid Method From the Field

Abstract

This note from the field describes my narrative of the emergence of Appreciative Storytelling (AS) derived from my experiences in the Territory of Nunavut gathered over a period of eight years. AS is a means of coalescing crucial, candid and emerging information based on personal experiences encountered by the first author referred to as ‘I’ throughout this paper. The significance of this hybrid method is that I plan to implement it in my doctoral research as the method of choice rooted in its origins in Nunavut’s Elder knowledge-keepers. As a hybrid and naturalistic method, I perceive it as the most appropriate participatory method for my community-based study. In further reflections, I propose various interpretations of the results of AS and their contributions to sustainability of traditional knowledge and thereby, intergenerational equity.

Keywords: appreciative storytelling, story-sharing, continuity of experience, research method