PNI Practicum

Please Note: As of 30 August 2023, I am in the process of transitioning the PNI Practicum from a paid service to an open-source offering. Please check this site for updates. I will soon be posting a free package of materials and instructions that will help you go through a self-running PNI Practicum course on your own, without my help.

• Overview

  I offer two practical, project-based courses designed to help you learn how to do Participatory Narrative Inquiry (PNI).

  What's PNI? It's a form of Action Research in which groups of people share stories about their experiences to make sense of situations together. Researchers, teachers, facilitators, organizers, managers, designers, and other helpers use PNI to help people discover insights, catch emerging trends, make decisions, generate ideas, resolve conflicts, and build connections.

  PNI Practicum I: Smaller-scale PNI

  • 16 weeks
  • Gather 24+ stories from 6+ people
  • Help people work with the stories to make sense of the topic
  • Experience PNI from both sides: as a participant and a facilitator

  PNI Practicum II: Larger-scale PNI

  • 20 weeks
  • Gather 100+ stories from 20+ people
  • Use mixed-methods analysis to find patterns in your data
  • Help people make sense of the topic using both stories and patterns

  Your projects

  In either of the two PNI Practicum courses, you will carry out a small and exploratory — but very real — PNI project of your choosing. You will:

  • Practice facilitating story sharing and sensemaking in individual and group settings
  • Help your project participants explore a topic they care about
  • Build your own PNI practice
  • Share your learning journey with a group of your peers

  Each course contains a series of project activities arranged in cycles of planning, action, and reflection. My goal is to help you build your skills and confidence in facilitating PNI projects — so that on your next PNI project, you can hit the ground running.

  Your materials

  Please check this space for a downloadable package of materials and instructions, which I am in the process of converting from my use to yours. In the meantime, the syllabi for each course (PNI Practicum I, PNI Practicum II) describe the course's readings and activities.

• PNI Practicum I

  PNI Practicum I: Smaller-scale PNI

  In this course you will:

  • Choose a topic of common interest to your group, family, community, or organization
  • Select and adapt a set of questions that elicit stories about experiences related to the topic
  • Conduct a series of individual and group interviews and story-sharing sessions
  • Gather 24+ stories from 6+ participants
  • Prepare the stories for use in sensemaking
  • Facilitate sensemaking sessions in which people work with the stories to make sense of the topic together
  • Complete your project by returning the stories to the community and/or writing a project report

  Requirements

  This course requires a minimum time investment of 6-8 hours per week (including class time) for 16 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 24 stories and use them to support group sensemaking. You can start the course without a specific project in mind, but you will need to find at least 6 project participants who are willing and able to spend a few hours participating in interviews and/or group sessions on a topic of common interest.

  Meetings

  In the course schedule, I recommend that you set up weekly 2-hour online calls that alternate between project progress meetings, in which you share what happened in your project, talk about your plans, and get feedback, and sandbox meetings, in which you go through group exercises and discuss facilitation techniques.

  More information

  This presentation has all the details. Please note that it has not yet been updated for the transition from a paid to an open-source course.

  And here is the course syllabus.

  Why take this course?

  This course is for you if you want to:

  • Deal with a pressing problem. If you would like to address a specific problem in your community or organization, this course can help you make sense of what is happening and discover new solutions.
  • Give PNI a try. If you think PNI might be useful to your community or organization, this course can help you evaluate PNI's potential to meet your needs.
  • Walk the path of stories. If you love stories and everything to do with them, this course can help you turn your passion into a valuable skill you can use to help people and grow your career.
  • Add PNI to your bag of tricks. If you are an educator or facilitator, this course can help you broaden and diversify your groupworks skillset, complementing other methods you use in your classrooms and workshops.
  • Ground your research in stories. If you are working on a master's or PhD project, you can use this course to carry out a pilot study on your topic. Your pilot study can help you explore and test your ideas and plans for your overall thesis project, whether or not you intend to use PNI for that phase of your work as well.
  • Build your own PNI practice. If you are a consultant and would like to consider running PNI projects for your clients, this course can help you to develop your unique flavor of PNI.

• PNI Practicum II

  PNI Practicum II: Larger-scale 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 100+ stories from 20+ participants
  • Annotate your data using qualitative analysis techniques
  • Explore 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

  Requirements

  This course requires a minimum time investment 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 100 stories and use them to support group sensemaking. You can start the course without a specific project in mind, but you will need to find at least 20 project participants who are willing and able to participate in the project at any of three levels: taking a ten-minute survey, participating in an hour-long interview or story-sharing session, or working with stories and patterns in a 2-3 hour sensemaking workshop.

  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.)

  Meetings

  In the course schedule, I recommend that you set up weekly 2-hour online calls that alternate between project progress meetings, in which you share what happened in your project, talk about your plans, and get feedback, and sandbox meetings, in which you go through group exercises and discuss facilitation techniques.

  More information

  This presentation has all the details. Please note that it has not yet been updated for the transition from a paid to an open-source course.

  And here is the course syllabus.

  Why take this course?

  This course is for you if you want to:

  • 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.
  • Take your PNI practice to the next level. If you are already familiar with the smaller-scale style of PNI, this course can help you level up to bigger and more ambitious projects.

• Your PNI Coach

  Hi. I'm Cynthia F. Kurtz, a researcher, software developer, consultant, and writer. I have been helping communities and organizations work with their stories since 1999. Originally an ethologist, I discovered the field of organizational narrative at IBM Research, where I conducted research projects to help IBM develop internal and client services centered around organizational stories. I built on that work at IBM's Institute for Knowledge Management and at the consulting firm Cognitive Edge before launching my independent consultancy in 2009.

  I have consulted on over 100 narrative projects for a variety of clients in government, for-profit, and non-profit sectors. In 2008 I self-published the first edition of my textbook, Working with Stories in Your Community or Organization: Participatory Narrative Inquiry. Now in its third edition, the book is widely considered a vital resource for participatory story work.

  • Explore some of the PNI projects I have worked on
  • Browse through my textbook Working with Stories (PDF)
  • Take a look at my PNI software NarraFirma
  • Read my professional biography
  • Review my peer-reviewed papers and other publications

  Acknowledgements

  In developing, improving, and promoting the PNI Practicum courses, I am grateful for the support and feedback I received from: Rachel Colla, Augusto Cuginotti, Lucy Duncan, Paul and Elliot Fernhout, Susannah Laramee Kidd, Adelle Kurtz, Jen Mason, Rob Peagler, and Miriam Richardson. This web site's banner was drawn by franzidraws and licensed through 123rf.com.

  

  Here I am talking about PNI in an interview with Lex Hoogduin of the Global Complexity Network.

• Testimonials

  Please note that these testimonials refer to the paid service, which is no longer available. However, I have left them up during the transition because I think they might give you a sense of what it's like to take the course, even without my presence.

  — Augusto Cuginotti

  — Stefan Morales

  — Laurent Stoffel

  — Elena Denaro

  For people wanting to dive into Participatory Narrative Inquiry, shifting between theory and applied practice, this course is a deep tour through the legacy of Cynthia's work. No matter your experience level, you will be stretched in practice and learning. This course does not download a complete set of ideas and approaches. Rather it is a course that sets you off on multiple starting points, using the flow of a PNI project to point to all of the interesting ways you can continue to deeply build your practice in story work, complexity and engagement. — Chris Corrigan, Harvest Moon Consultants

  Participatory Narrative Inquiry is an amazing way for people to share their experiences with each other and co-create solutions to help make their workplaces and communities better. The PNI Practicum offers the opportunity to learn from the world's leading expert on PNI, practicing with others using real-life projects. — George DeMet, Palantir.net, Inc.
  This course is a powerful container for understanding the depth of participatory narrative inquiry as a practice. This course demonstrated and exposed me to the multiple layers of what can be understood and investigated using stories. Doing this as a practicum, experimenting with PNI in the world with a real time project while learning in community with Cynthia's expert guidance gave me a much deeper understanding of the technique. Alternating real time planning and coaching with demonstrations of the practice in the sandbox sessions made it possible to answer questions that arose while implementing PNI in real time. — Lucy Duncan, reparationWorks

  The opportunity to do a practicum with Cynthia, in a cohort of deeply experienced and committed story-workers, was truly an invaluable experience. The practicum allowed me to coalesce two decades of experience in the story trenches. With the feedback and support of Cynthia and my practicum cohort I was able to move through the full arc of PNI story work — from project design, through crafting story prompts, gathering stories, leading sense making workshops, and working with our target community to leverage insights to shape and motivate action. I didn't just gain technical knowledge; I explored the moral and ethical responsibilities of PNI project leaders to clients, communities, and anyone who shares or reads a story in the course of a project. — Rob Peagler, reparationWorks
  As an experienced facilitator and qualitative researcher, I was surprised at how much I learned in this course! I got so much more out of learning how to actually do PNI — to identify the kinds of stories that are good for working with, ask "story-ended questions," prepare stories for sensemaking, facilitate participatory sensemaking exercises — than just reading about it. — Susannah Laramee Kidd, PhD

  Thank you to Augusto Cuginotti, who helped me put together the testimonial videos.

• FAQ

  Please note: these answers are out of date and will be updated soon.

  Basic questions

  Thank you to Augusto Cuginotti, who helped me put together these FAQ videos.

  Detailed questions

  About the course fees

  Do your course fees have a sliding scale?

  No. But my books about PNI and my PNI software are (and have always been) free.

  Do you offer a volume discount?

  Yes. If you buy a "bundle" of two tickets, the price is 10% off. The two people in your bundle can collaborate on one project or do their own separate projects. To buy a bundle of tickets, click "Save Your Seat," then "Buy tickets." You will see the discount bundle listed there.

  What if nobody else takes the course I want to take?

  Two weeks before each course is to start, I will decide whether I can afford to give the course based on the number of people who have signed up for it. If you have signed up for a course that ends up being canceled, I will send you a full refund (including your deposit) via PayPal.

  I don't have time to take a course right now. But I might have time next year. Can I wait and sign up then?

  Maybe. If these courses fill up, I will be able to keep offering them; but if they don't, I won't. If you can't take a course right now but would like to help me offer them in the future, consider making a donation in support of my free books and software. There are donation buttons at workingwithstories.org and at narrafirma.com (scroll down to the bottom of the main page).

  Can you send me an invoice?

  Yes. Send me an email at cfkurtz@cfkurtz.com and I'll send you an invoice for the course fee. You can pay via international wire transfer, PayPal, or TicketTailor/Stripe (the method linked to from this site).

  What is your refund policy?

  If you start a course, then discover that it's not what you want, or if you start but can't finish due to time constraints, let me know. I will send you a pro-rated refund for the weeks that remain via PayPal. You also have the option of applying your refund to the next course (if there are seats left for that course).

  However, I do ask that you not take up a slot in a course unless you intend to commit to it. Much of the value of these courses lies in their peer support aspect. So if you take the course without intending to engage with it (and your fellow students), you could reduce its value to others. Please look over the course activities and requirements before you sign up. If you need help deciding, I would be glad to talk with you about your options.

  About the course activities

  If I can't be at every course meeting, can I still take the course?

  Yes. If you have to miss a meeting or two, it should not be a problem. All calls are recorded and available for watching as long as the course goes on. Also, you are entitled to up to two hours of one-on-one help during the course, so I can help you catch up if you have to miss a few calls.

  If I can't put in the time required to do a project, can I still take the course?

  No. I don't suggest it. You won't learn much about PNI if you don't spend time doing a real PNI project.

  Do I need a fast internet connection to take either course?

  Yes. We will be using Zoom (with some screen sharing) and Miro during our meetings. You can join via audio only, but you will need to be able to see what is happening on the screen. Joining by phone is fine once in a while, but for our interactive sessions you should plan to work on a laptop or desktop computer.

  Are there breaks within the course schedule?

  In the Fall 2023 PNI Practicum I course, there are no breaks; we will meet every Tuesday for 16 meetings. In the Fall 2023 PNI Practicum II course, we will not meet on the third Thursday in November (for the US Thanksgiving holiday), and we will not meet on on the last Thursday in December (for Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanzaa).

  What if I fall behind?

  A project activity is scheduled for each two-week part of the course. However, each of these activities should only take a few to several hours to carry out, and each of them can happen at any time within the two weeks. Also, if you need to step away from the course in one part, you can push that part's activity into the next part and do two activities then. That's one reason the courses are as long as they are: to accommodate the reality of doing story projects, which rarely go as planned.

  I've done some story work before, but not PNI. Which course do you suggest I take?

  I created two course levels because I've noticed over the years that people who use PNI always seem to prefer to use it in one of two ways.

  • The ancient, artisanal style of PNI is simple and clear. You gather some stories, then help a group of people make sense of them together. It's the sort of thing that could have happened (and probably did happen) thousands of years ago.
  • The modern, scalable style of PNI is complicated and ambitious. You gather some stories, and you also gather a lot of answers to questions about the stories and their tellers. Then you look for patterns in the answers to find "food for thought" people can use to explore the topic more fully than they can with the stories alone. To do this style of PNI, you need to collect more stories, interpret graphs and statistical test results, prepare the patterns for use in sensemaking, and facilitate a more intense and demanding form of sensemaking in which people look at both patterns and stories.

  I know some people who do only the ancient style of PNI, some who do only the modern style, and some who do both. The ideal is to be able to do either style as the situation calls for it. But there is also an element of personal preference involved. Some people gravitate more naturally to one style or the other.

  One thing that might help you decide is to look at the example catalysis report (of patterns prepared for sensemaking) that I have on my web site (it is actually some excerpts from a longer report I built for a project). This is the sort of thing you would be creating to support sensemaking in a modern-style PNI project (the kind you would be doing in the PNI Practicum II course). If you can see yourself enjoying the work of creating a report like that — if that is the sort of thing you want to learn how to do — then the PNI Practicum II course would suit you best. If that sort of thing seems boring or stupid or overwhelming to you, then you would probably like the PNI Practicum I course better.

  How do the PNI Practicum course materials differ from Working with Stories?

  The course materials for the PNI Practicum are drawn from WWS and from other readily available resources. But reading a book and doing a project are not the same thing. What the PNI Practicum offers is a smoother path, a way to develop your PNI practice in an atmosphere of facilitated exploration, peer-to-peer discussion, and expert guidance. You do not need to take this course — or any course — to learn how to use PNI successfully. Still, it might be useful to you.

  About your course project

  I have a project in mind, but I'm not sure it will work in the course.

  Projects done in either PNI Practicum course should be synchronized (on the same schedule), not secret (something you can talk about), and exploratory (small enough to fit into our time frame). If you aren't sure if the project you have in mind fits those criteria, you can ask. Send me a note at cfkurtz@cfkurtz.com. And don't worry, I'm not going to say yes no matter what project you have in mind, because I want you to succeed. I want us all to succeed, together.

  I would like to take a PNI Practicum course, but I can't think of any project to do. Is that a problem?

  Not necessarily. Participants are more important than projects. If you can find at least 6 (for the PNI Practicum I) or 20 (for the PNI Practicum II) 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.

  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. In fact, I've worked on many projects just like that.

  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.

  For details on when each interview and session will take place, and how much time you will need to ask people to spend on it, see the page titled "Project Activities" in the PNI Practicum descriptions (I-level, II-level). (Also see the "If you fall behind" page.)

  Can I use a PNI Practicum course to do a project I get paid to do?

  Yes. In fact, using either course to get help carrying out a paid project is a great way to pay for it. 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.

  Could my colleague and I take the PNI Practicum course together and do a shared project in it?

  Absolutely. That is a great way to experience the course. When you go to buy your tickets, be sure to check out the two-ticket discount bundle.

  About the PNI Practicum I course

  I would like to take this course, but I don't think I can find any project participants. What do you suggest?

  Ask around among your family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues. Most people can convince (drag, bribe, guilt) at least a few people to spend a few hours sharing stories around an interesting topic. Say "I'm taking a class!" and offer pizza or donuts. Also, you might be able to collaborate on a project with another student. For example, if three students were to bring two participants each into a shared project, they could do the project as a team and take turns facilitating. Students can also act as participants in each other's projects.

  Why doesn't the PNI Practicum I course use NarraFirma?

  You can use NarraFirma if you want to. It's a good place to plan your project, organize your stories, and record your reflections. However, you may not want to learn how to use a new piece of software in this course. And since you will be collecting relatively few stories, it's not necessary to do so. Your favorite word processor will work fine. Even pen and paper will work fine, if you like that better. The only software you absolutely need to use in this course is your internet browser, to participate in meetings.

  About the PNI Practicum II course

  Will I be required to use NarraFirma?

  Yes. At first I wanted to be agnostic about software, but my students have told me that they value the opportunity to learn how to use NarraFirma well. So everyone will be using NarraFirma in the course. You will use it to plan projects, gather stories, discover patterns, build catalytic material for sensemaking, and record reflections.

  What do I have to do to get NarraFirma set up to use in the course?

  The simplest method is to pay for a basic account at a one-click WordPress 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.