PNI Practicum Level Three: A Deep Dive into PNI

In this course you will:

Choose a topic of common interest to your group, family, community, or organization
Select and adapt a story form with story-eliciting and story-interpreting questions
Conduct a series of individual and group interviews and story-sharing sessions
Build an online survey using NarraFirma
Promote your online survey through a series of invitations to participate
Gather 80+ stories from 20+ participants
Annotate your data using qualitative analysis techniques
Explore qualitative patterns (themes, answers to questions) and (optionally) quantitative patterns (graphs and statistical results) using NarraFirma
Prepare a set of observations, interpretations, and ideas based on the patterns you found
Prepare your stories for use in sensemaking
Facilitate a series of sensemaking sessions in which people make sense of the topic by working with the stories, patterns, observations, interpretations, and ideas you prepared
Complete your project by returning the stories to the community and/or writing a project report

This course also includes up to three optional hours of one-on-one coaching.

Upcoming Deep-Dive Courses

Questions about course enrollment? Email me at cfkurtz@cfkurtz.com.

Course Syllabus

Common questions about the Deep Dive course

Overview

Requirements

Your Course Project

NarraFirma

Overview

Why should I choose this course?

The Deep Dive course is for you if you want to:

Take your PNI practice to the next level. If you are already familiar with the essentials of PNI, this course can help you level up to bigger and more ambitious projects.
Deepen your explorations. If you’re frustrated with surface-level survey research, this course can help you dive deep into group dynamics in story sharing and sensemaking.
Broaden your explorations. If you’re frustrated with narrow-range ethnographic research, this course can help you draw upon a greater diversity of experiences and perspectives.
Open the door to stories. If you’re tired of asking people for their opinions, and you’re intrigued by the idea of inviting people to explore their experiences, this course can help you master the subtle art of story listening.
Open the door to participation. If you’re frustrated with extractive research, this course can help you learn how to work with motivated co-researchers at every level of participation, from sharing a two-minute story to co-creating a vision for the future.

What will I get out of this course?

You will plan and carry out your own larger and more complex PNI project (than in the Essentials course), gathering 80+ stories from 20+ participants. Along the way you'll learn about the theory behind PNI, and you'll experience story collection, catalysis, and sensemaking both as a participant (in our training meetings) and as a facilitator (in your own project). When you finish the course, you'll be ready to do even more complex PNI projects on your own.

What will the online meetings be like?

This course relies on weekly 2-hour online calls that alternate between training meetings (in which you will discuss techniques and participate in group exercises) and support meetings (in which you will talk about your project plans and progress, ask questions, and get feedback and advice).

What are the course materials like?

This course uses the same materials as its open-source counterpart, with the same readings, discussions, facilitated group activities, and outside-of-class assignments (as you carry out your PNI project). The only difference is that I (Cynthia Kurtz) will lead the discussions, facilitate the group activities, and coach you through your assignments.

Requirements

How much time will I need to put into this course?

The course requires a time investment (per student) of 6-8 hours per week (including class time) for 20 weeks. If you take the course with another student, or if you find a collaborator in your course cohort, you might be able to save some time by working together on a shared project. In your course project, you will gather at least 80 stories and use them to support group sensemaking.

This course strongly suggests the use of NarraFirma, my free and open source web application for doing PNI projects. You can install NarraFirma as a plugin on any WordPress site. (Or if you’re a tech nerd, you can install it using Node.js.).

Do I need to take the Introductory or Essentials course before I take this one?

No. All of the PNI Practicum courses stand on their own. You might find this course easier to understand if you have taken one of the shorter courses first, but it's not at all a requirement.

What are the course readings?

In this course we will read through several chapters in Working with Stories, though you can read the corresponding chapters in Working with Stories Simplified instead if you want to.

What are the course assignments?

These are the assignments you will carry out during the Larger-scale course:

Observe story sharing. 30+ minutes. Record or take notes on a conversation with 2+ people who are not taking the course. Practice listening to and supporting story sharing in a group.
Plan your project. 1 hour. Answer some questions about your project and participants; build a privacy policy; write a project synopsis.
Choose and adapt a set of questions. 30+ minutes. Work with The Working with Stories Sourcebook.
Conduct an individual interview. 1+ hours. Interview a single person who is not taking the course.
Conduct a group interview. 2+ hours. Interview 3+ people who are not taking the course. Ask them to answer a few questions about their stories. Record the interview and transcribe the stories, preparing story cards for sensemaking.
Facilitate a group story-sharing session. 2+ hours. Invite 3+ people who are not taking the course. Facilitate a story-sharing exercise. Ask people to answer a few questions about their stories. Record the session and transcribe the stories, preparing story cards for sensemaking.
Prepare catalytic material. 2+ hours. Look at patterns, choose some remarkable ones, write observations and interpretations, get material ready to be used in sensemaking.
Facilitate a group story-contact task. 1+ hours. Invite 2+ people who are not taking the course. Introduce them to the stories in a simple task and discussion.
Facilitate a sensemaking exercise. 2+ hours. Invite 2+ people who are not taking the course. Facilitate a story-focused sensemaking exercise.
Facilitate a complete sensemaking workshop. 3+ hours. Invite 2+ people who are not taking the course. Facilitate a full workshop with a contact task, a pattern-focused sensemaking exercise, and wrap-up activity.

I'd like to take this course, but I'm afraid I will not be able to keep up with the assignments.

It might be hard to schedule all of your participatory sessions on your project schedule. People might be busy. They might say they’ll come but not show up. Or you might get sick or have a busy month. That’s fine. You will be practicing story collection and sensemaking three times. So even if things get delayed, you should still be able to complete all (or most) of your assignments.

In the Story Collection part of the course, you should gather at least 80 stories during the three story-collection parts of the course, ideally with one activity every two weeks. However, you will have six weeks to do this. If you end up collecting all of your stories in the last week of the six (and in only one way), that’s okay. It will be a busy week, but you can do it.

In the Sensemaking part of the course, you should hold three sensemaking sessions, ideally one every two weeks. But again, you will have six weeks to do this. If you end up holding all three sessions in the same busy week – or even if you can only fit in two sessions – that’s okay. It won’t ruin the course for you.

Your Course Project

What kind of project should I bring to the course?

All of the projects everyone does in this course must be synchronized (on the same schedule), not secret (about a topic you can talk about), and rightly sized to fit into our time frame.

I can’t think of a project I want to do. Is that a problem?

Not necessarily. Participants are more important than projects. If you can find at least 20 friends, colleagues, family members, or members of your community or organization who you are pretty sure will be willing and able to spend some time participating in your project, you can decide on the project’s topic (maybe in discussion with your participants) as the course begins.

I can’t think of any participants I want to invite. What should I do?

The Essentials course only requires 6 participants, and it's usually to find that many people who will participate if you ask them. For the Deep Dive course, however, you will need 20 participants for your project, and you probably won't be able to find that many by asking around for favors. If you don't think you will be able to find 20 people who will want to participate in the PNI project you have in mind, the Essentials course might be a better fit for you.

Do my project participants need to have a lot in common? For example, do they need to live or work at the same place?

No. You can do a project with people who have nothing in common except a mild to moderate interest in the topic of your project.

Do I have to identify all of my project participants before the course begins?

It depends. If the pool of people from whom you can draw participants is small (say just enough to do the project), you will need to get them to agree to participate before you start the course, so you can be certain that you can fill your interviews and sessions with participants. However, if your pool of potential participants is much larger than the number of participants you need, you can invite people to participate as the course goes along. For example, you might gather some of your stories by simply hanging out at a local gathering place and finding people who are willing to share a story or two.

Can I use this course to do a project I get paid to do?

Yes, but make sure the course schedule aligns with your client’s expectation of what will happen. My suggestion is to look at the course schedule and make sure a project with that schedule and scope will meet your client’s needs.

NarraFirma

Will I have to use NarraFirma?

Yes. Everyone will be using NarraFirma. You will use it to plan projects, gather stories, discover patterns, build catalytic material for sensemaking, and record reflections.

How can I get NarraFirma set up?

The simplest method is to pay for a basic account at a WordPress managed hosting site. Make sure the host you choose allows custom plugins. Once you have WordPress running, you can install NarraFirma (from the WordPress plugins directory) in a few clicks.

Do I have to set up NarraFirma before the course starts?

No, but you should do it within the first few weeks of the course.

Can I install NarraFirma locally, not on the internet?

Yes. But you’ll have to import or enter your stories instead of using NarraFirma to collect them over the internet.

Have a question I didn't answer? Send me an email at cfkurtz@cfkurtz.com.