Methodology & Guiding Tools for The Narrative Construction of Identity of European Adolescents at Risk of Social Exclusion

The present proposal targets the following areas of adolescents´ development and education that have previously been addressed from different point of views by social initiatives promoted and/or co-sponsored with funds from the European Union.

1. INTERCULTURAL EDUCATION OF YOUTH
2. SOCIAL INTEGRATION OF YOUNG REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS
3. RADICALIZATION AND EXTREMISM AMONG EUROPEAN YOUTH

This project is based on the premise that there are different ways of thinking, observing reality, and even relating to others depending on cultural contexts (Hsu 1970; Hsu 1981; Geertz 1973; Benedict 1974; Markus and Kitayama 1991; Doi 2004); thus, it makes sense to help adolescents to understand this idea in multicultural environments, where it is necessary to promote interculturality as defined above, by developing specific methods and non-formal educational tools.

The theory framework within which to develop these practical ideas and tools is determined by the understanding that human minds can process reality in a narrative mode, meaning that we can make sense of the world using narrative structures and figures, such as metaphors and symbols. Following Jerome Bruner’s approach, the goal is understanding how the meaning in cultural products, such as folktales –whether oral, written, or audiovisual texts–, becomes meaning in the mind of individuals. “The central concern is not how narrative as text is constructed, but rather how it operates as an instrument of mind in the construction or reality” (Bruner 1991, 5–6).

According to Natural Language Hypothesis (NLH) defended by Hutto (2008), linguistic symbols are necessary for logical, systematic, and productive modes of reasoning. Inferential thinking is only possible if there exist public symbolic systems, such as language. Hutto is convinced that folk psychology is the way we understand ours and others’ actions, but it requires individuals with the ability to manipulate representations with complex linguistic forms. Therefore, the current proposal aims to develop these specific cognitive and communicative competences among adolescents, learning about folk psychological narratives from different cultural communities, as well as training them in the creation, production and communication of narrative products from the perspective of Intercultural Education.