Tipos de intervención del Estado en la empresa informativa

Participants have access to their own experiences, but they are not always able to articulate these experiences which can impact on the interpretation and understanding of experience (Polkinghorne, 2005). Hand-drawn images can

express that “which is not easily put into words: the ineffable, the elusive, the not-yet-thought-through, the subconscious” (Weber & Mitchell, 1995, p. 34). Hand-drawn images can help make the experience coherent. After the experience of drawing, most participants confirmed that the practice of drawing hand-drawn images helped them to articulate their learning experience:

I had to re-live last year, if I can say it like that. Actually understanding the outcomes and my growth areas. At the end it was fun (Prisha-P3). One of the reasons why hand-drawn images are beneficial is that the participants had to really think about their learning experience:

Drawing pictures triggers a little bit of that sub-conscious stuff. I had to really think what images represented my journey. It forces you to think step by step. You actually have to relive every moment. I had to spend time and think. It’s challenging though. I thought about it a lot (Mbali-P3). Reflecting on the BDAL experience through the medium of drawing proved valuable to the participants as it provided an opportunity for reflection. With the introduction of hand-drawn images before the in-depth interview, the participants had time to reflect on their learning, access the BDAL experience and provide rich data in the in-depth interview:

The biggest benefit of drawing the pictures was reflecting on everything that she went through last year and understanding the outcomes at the end of it. I mean you lose it so easily if you don’t practice things.

You walk out of the programme and then tomorrow you’re back in your same ways. So, I want to say that I probably had an added benefit by thinking again about things. Actually, reliving the moments again is the key. The drawing had the benefit of creating a reflection period to reinforce the learning (Prisha’s interpretive story).

Other research has found that hand-drawn images helped the participants to illustrate ideas in a more tangible and specific way than words (Broadbent, et al., 2006), hence the benefit of applying the hand-drawn images before the in- depth interview. The use of hand-drawn images confirmed that drawings enable the participant to ‘show’ the experience, rather than ‘tell’ the experience (Kress, 2003). These findings support Guillemin (2004) who concluded that the use of drawings, as a research method, increased the researcher’s interpretations in diverse ways to understand an experience.

Whilst striving to draw the image, most participants were able to formulate and articulate their learning experience through reflection on the experience:

She enjoyed the drawing process, as she consciously needed to make time to reflect. Reflecting helped her to listen and be quiet. She felt that reflecting was not just delving into her experience bank but also questioning her past behaviour and comparing it to the current behaviour (Sandy’s interpretive story).

Sandy-P3 drew the picture of an ‘open door’ multiple times, as she wanted the drawing to show movement and change (Figure 5.20). She struggled to draw her picture; however, it was the explanation of the concept of movement that added depth to the conversation during the in-depth interview. Through the effort of trying to draw pictures of their learning, participants were forced to spend time reflecting on what they wanted to draw and how they would represent their learning in a hand-drawn image.

The struggle and time it took to draw benefited the participants, as through the struggle they gained the opportunity to reflect on their learning. This gave the participants an opportunity to reflect and think deeply about their learning. The findings support Löfström and Nevgi’s (2014) research as they confirmed that hand-drawn images are a prompt to stimulate the participants’ reflection on their learning and helped remember the BDAL experience:

I would not have been able to just come out right with the learnings and the experiences if you had just asked me in the interview without the drawing. I actually found it a nice way of doing it because it helps you crystallise your thoughts better and it is more visually impactful than writing a passage of learnings (Julian-P3).

Another benefit is that the participants were able to reflect on their emotions regarding the BDAL experience in their hand-drawn image. Sometimes participants do not want to reveal their emotions as they can be seen as uncontrollable, frightening or shameful (Shepherd, 2016), hence the benefit of drawing the emotions (See the ‘library’ example in Table 4.1 where emotions were drawn in the picture in the form of jagged lines).

Another benefit of drawing is that the participant could tell their story through drawing. In Figure 4.2, Mbali-P3 drew a very detailed picture of a changed person. She told the researcher that she traced the pictures so that they would look good.

Figure 4.2 A changed person (Mbali's hand-drawn image)

Even though Mbali-P3 tried to create a ‘perfect’ picture of change, looking back at her hand-drawn image and her replies in the in-depth interview, the responses were authentic. The image of ‘perfect’ learning was again emphasised by this participant during member-checking where she corrected all the grammar and the repetition of words in her story (See section on member- checking). In conclusion, Mbali-P3 took extreme care in working towards ‘perfection’ as the BDAL experience had a significant impact on her life, and the hand-drawn image was an effective way for her to express the value of the experience.

Vince (1995) concluded that the images themselves enable analysis but the discussions around the images provided context, which can be analysed. The drawings therefore gave both the researcher and the participant insight into the BDAL experience.