Narrative inquiry focuses on the storied experiences of an individual, bringing deeper understanding of human lives within their social world (Smith & Caddick, 2012).
Accordingly, this thesis lends itself to narrative as this tradition also embraces how people make sense of their experiences, and why they are drawn to do certain things (Smith and Sparkes, 2008) (e.g. become gym instructors). Narrative has frequently been used to build an understanding of how people bring a sense of order and coherence to a life disrupted by serious illness or trauma (e.g., Carless & Douglas 2008; Papathomas & Lavallee, 2012; Smith & Sparkes, 2002). This may be because human beings have been widely accepted as
storytelling creatures, making meaning and sense of their lives through stories; this forms an underlying assumption that humans lead storied lives (Crossley, 2000; Partington, Partington, Fishwick, & Allin, 2005; Phoenix & Smith, 2011; Smith, 2010). As we lead storied lives, when we are faced with crisis and a threat to our sense of self and way of being, the tendency is to turn to narrative to make sense and meaning out of our new circumstances (Frank, 2013; Medved & Brockmeier, 2008).
By telling stories we imbue our experiences with meaning, deriving from the recognition that as storied beings “we organise our experiences into narratives and assign meaning to them through storytelling” (Smith & Sparkes, 2008, pp. 87-88). By telling stories about our lives, we reveal much about ourselves including our thoughts, feelings, emotions, hopes, fears, views of ourselves and others. The use of narrative also allows individuals to communicate experiences, meanings and emotions which they attach to their relationships to events, embodiments, action and behaviours, thereby providing a richer, deeper, more
46 complex understanding of human experiences and behaviours (Frank, 2006). Thus, narratives provide a core link to different facets of ourselves and lived experiences to the events that occur in our lives making them meaningful and intelligible to us (Carless, 2008). As Mayer (2014) stated:
“Stories imbue our experience with “meaning.” Events become meaningful to the extent that they can be fit into or evoke some larger narrative about ourselves or our world… It is impossible to say who we are without telling a story” (p.7).
Contextually, in this thesis narrative illuminates how participants constructed a sense of themselves and made meaning from their experiences in the gym and in their instructor training. This allows for an enriched understanding of participants experiences and
motivations to become gym instructors as narrative allows for a complex, sophisticated appreciation of people as active social beings and focuses on the way people construct their personal and cultural realities through storytelling (Sparkes, 2005). Sparkes’ (2005) statement also highlights two other key aspects of narrative; that our experiences are constructed
through narrative and stories act on us.
The stories people draw upon to make sense of experiences and which get caught under their skin are not derived solely from the individual but are socially constructed (Frank, 2013). In other words, they do not simply appear or exist or are accessible to all people; instead they are social, cultural creations (Smith & Sparkes, 2009). As Phoenix and Sparkes (2006) illuminated “narrative is a form of social practice in which individuals draw from a cultural repertoire of stories that they then assemble into personal stories.” (p. 109). By drawing upon these cultural resources, people can tell their own personal stories and make sense of their lives (Frank, 2010). It should be noted, however, that people’s access to
47 work, which stories they take seriously or not, and especially which stories they exchange as tokens of memberships (Frank, 2010). Moreover, the body is also integral to which stories are listened to and which are not. As Frank (2013) stated, people tell stories not just about their bodies but out of and through them as well. In other words, the body is also influential in shaping the stories that can be told about it, its relationship with others and the
environment where it is located. There is therefore a reciprocal process of infolding and
outfolding of experience onto and from the body (Frank, 2013). In the context of this thesis,
the application of narrative inquiry provided a sophisticated way of investigating how the gym culture and the body participants had were influential in what stories participants told, which stories they disregarded, how they made sense of their experiences and how these experiences impacted their sense of self and well-being.
Narratives can shape what we think and how we behave, can open possible worlds, be powerful motivators of change and determine decisions which lie ahead (Andrews, 2014; Brockmeier, 2009). People do not simply listen to stories but get caught up in them affecting what they think, know and perceive; what Frank (2010) described as stories getting under people’s skin. Thus, stories have the capacity not only to determine our lives, but to act in such a way that informs and guides our actions and our possibilities (Frank, 2006). As such, narrative can provide much insight into the motivations and stories available for disabled individuals in the gym. Stories can provide a template for people to make sense of their experiences and sense of self, who they have been and who they will be in the future (Frank, 2013). In the context of this thesis, the use of narrative inquiry permitted me to explore which stories got under participants skin and which they used as a guide to their desired future self.