Telling Stories – Releasing Paradoxes Narratives and the Renewal of Public Governance Copenhagen August

New Austerity and the need of authentic dialogue Freezing dilemmas The rhetoric of double messages Constructs wicked problems and squeezes Conducts dilemma games Double Binds & Desperate Governance Freezing dilemmas The rhetoric of double messages Constructs wicked problems and squeezes Conducts dilemma games Double Binds & Desperate Governance “Cut costs and improve quality” “Standards and flexibility” “Trust and control” Un-freezing dilemmas Sharing complexity and paradoxes Allowing new rationales to emerge Transforming the community – building trust Un-freezing dilemmas Sharing complexity and paradoxes Allowing new rationales to emerge Transforming the community – building trust Narrative practice

Contents The languages of governance – Prescriptive languages – Causal languages – Narrative languages Case: The regime of competence in preschool education – Learning plans, programme theory, and learning stories – Inclusion and exclusion – Transforming the community – The problem of aggregation Bureaucratization of narrative practice? Narrativity and Autenticity

Languages of Governance Prescriptive Causal Narrative Norm - Deviation Cause - Effect Plot – CounterPlot

Institutional history Prescriptive Causal Narrative Effective Administration and Planning The Birth of Bureaucracy Innovative Leadership 1990+

Interdependence Prescriptive Causal Narrative Constitutes a field of actors, relation, strategies Dramatic logic Constitutes formal and abstract representations Linear logic

Meaning of Paradoxes Prescriptive Causal Narrative Breakdown of linear causality Breakdown of order Creative and dynamic principle

Rationality Prescriptive Causal Narrative Reflective Rationality Simple rationality Transformative rationality

Pre-Schools: Defining performance Functional approach Performance Learning as transfer of knowledge and skills Professionals “do something” to the children Existential approach Being Learning as dialogue -forming identities and communities Professionals involved in an existential collaboration with children

Pre-Schools: Inclusion – Changing the Story Functional approach The problem inherent in the individual child Diagnosis Protecting and compensating the child Existential approach The problem as an emergent phenomenon Diagnosis-in-context Developing the community Narrative methodology: Externalizing problems, Introducing counter-plots, and witnessing the unique

Pre-Schools: Defining performance Prescriptive measures Causal measures Narrative measures Learning plans Themes, objectives, plans Programme-theory Causal hypotheses: Learning enviroment and effects Learning stories Understanding situations and experiences

Pre-Schools: Transforming the Community Professional Children Institution District Local Agency City Council Professional Parents Institution District Local Agency City Council User Commitees Consultations Citizens Experts

Pre-Schools: Aggregating Narratives Primary Narratives Meta- Narratives Communities of Evaluation

Bureaucratization of Narrative Practice Narratives reflecting norms, not experience Smooth narratives Narrative templates Quantative measures on the production of narratives The use of narrative methodology becomes predictable and rutinized How can we nurture an authentic practice?

Narrativity and Authenticity Authenticity: A quality emerging in conversations (not a personality trait!) Openness to complexity and paradoxes Using a language genuin and relevant to participants Free-floating and spontaneous Conditions Invite and recognise narratives that are messy and un-smooth Focus on border situations and dilemmas Follow emerging themes Invite new participants and perspectives Avoid too disciplined, schooled, and technical approaches

Narrativity and Authenticity Narratives and Performance Dialogue Simplicity in structure: – Few and meaningful objectives – Clear and non-humiliating feedback – Reduction of distracting elements – Handling crisis with care and prudence Richness in dialogue – Pluralist approach – combining prescriptive, causal, and narrative thes – Trust as discipline