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Photo from left: Charmian Wilby, Zoe Parker, Caroline Marcangelo, Gonzalo Araoz, Ruth Balogh, Cathie Pearce, Lynnea Brinkerhoff, Una Hanley
A dream of a workshop
University researchers took part in an innovative summer residential weekend in July, including a ‘social dreaming’ workshop.
Dr Ruth Balogh, Reader in Health Research & Practice Development, and Caroline Marcangelo of CDEPP facilitated the event which was hosted by the University’s Collaborative Action Research Network (CARN) group. Dr Balogh explained:
“The dominant discourse for interpreting dreams in northern and western cultures is focused on the individual and on personal and private meanings. However, as action researchers we know that meanings are co-constructed in multiple ways. The workshop was an introduction to the idea that the boundaries between night and day, between dreams and reality, can be broken down by sharing and examining our dreams collectively. As with private interpretations, this can be a tremendous source of new insights for a group.”
Social dreaming is a new idea for action research. Dr Balogh presented on the subject at the last annual CARN Conference in Athens and has had a paper provisionally accepted for publication in the journal Educational Action Research, the publication associated with CARN.
Eight action researchers took part in the weekend event, four from the University of Cumbria and four from the wider CARN network. The settings were at Lanercost and Talkin Tarn, close to Hadrian’s Wall in order to provide geographic inspiration for the main topic of their discussions: ‘Boundaries and Debateable Territories’.
The event, termed a CARN ‘CAMP’ or Critical Action-research Meeting Point, aimed to make creative use of space outside of traditional academic and institutional contexts to explore ideas in depth. The idea comes from the observation that some of the most interesting conversations happen informally: in the corridor, at the photocopier, in the pub, on the motorway, etc. The international CARN network decided to take this a step further and provide a longer ‘non-institutional’ space for more sustained conversation. Another CARN ‘CAMP’ is also taking place in Australia later this summer.
The researchers plan to continue the conversation they began at the weekend over the internet, and to post material on the CARN website
www.mmu.ac.uk/carn.
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