Mind the Twist in the Tale: The Story as a Channel for Culture-Resonant Career Counseling

Abstract

There is a growing urgency to identify and deploy methods and techniques of counseling that are culture-resonant. In times gone by the “elder” or the “wise person” of the village, drawing upon the wisdom accrued in the community over the ages, helped people deal with the social and psychological problems they encountered. This way of life continues to flourish in many non-Western cultures and it has been documented that members of these cultures first turn to the individuals who are sanctioned representatives of their culture when they are in need of succor. A medium commonly used with great effectiveness by these “traditional counselors” is the story. In this chapter we present the story as method that could be used for culture-resonant career counseling. We begin by defining the story and provide an overview of types of stories. We analyze the motivations that underlie this almost universal human tendency to tell stories. We reflect upon the story’s illuminative role as a receptacle of culture and describe the manner in which stories provide guidelines for everyday life. An important feature explored is the manner in which stories create a sense of connectedness between not only the members of a culture but also across cultures, locations, and time. We then describe how storytelling cultures have used the story as a tool for learning and teaching. Examples are drawn from Native American lesson stories, Sufi wisdom tales, African dilemma tales, cautionary tales from the Malay tradition, and Indian story creators. The potential that a pertinent story has in raising the individual’s thoughts and feelings beyond the constraints of logic and causality and the fact that a story may be illogical but sound are examined. Based on this background, next we describe the linkages that could be forged between career counseling and the story as a repository of knowledge and wisdom. The psychological underpinnings of the story in the form of the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that it evokes are described. We then draw these ideas together to describe three trial tested, practical techniques—Guided Deliberation, Stories as Vicarious Experience, and Framing and Reframing—that could be used for culture-resonant career counseling. At the outset it is clarified that although it is located alongside two well-developed bodies of knowledge—the narrative style of counseling and the ancient tradition of storytelling—this writing does not focus on either. Instead we attempt to explore, examine, and describe how the career counselor of today could learn from the methods of traditional counselors to create channels between pertinent, well-recognized stories and the person such that he or she could construct answers by drawing upon the collective wisdom of the community. In summary in this chapter we blend a technique of counseling commonly used by traditional counselors, with contemporary approaches to counseling, and present for consideration a method for the delivery of culture-resonant career counseling services.

Appendix

The Indigo Jackal: A story from the Panchatantra adapted by: Kamini Ramachandran, MoonShadow Stories, Singapore.

Once, on a dark, cold winter’s night, a jackal wandered into a village looking for food. The jackal was very hungry. The winter had been long and hard, and there was no food left in the forest. “Perhaps,” said the jackal to himself, “I will find something to eat in the village.” The jackal soon found a rubbish heap in the village. He began sniffing and scratching and rummaging about in the rubbish, looking for scraps to eat. Soon he was making such a noise that the village dogs heard him. Now, these dogs did not like jackals. They began barking and growling, and attacked the jackals from all sides. They scratched and bit the jackal with their sharp claws and big teeth. Terrified, the poor jackal ran from the dogs as fast as he could, through the dark deserted streets of the village. But the dogs did not give up. They ran after him, growling and snarling and barking even more loudly. The jackal did not know what to do. He did not dare to stop, and he knew he could not run for much longer. Suddenly he saw the wall of a courtyard before him. Without waiting to think he jumped over the wall, and straight into a large pot of indigo dye! The dye had been left there by a dyer, all ready to be used in the morning. The jackal was now dyed a rich indigo color! Meanwhile the dogs had stopped barking. They couldn’t see or smell the jackal any more. They decided to wait near the courtyard wall, just in case he appeared again. But instead of the jackal, a strange blue creature came creeping out of the dyer’s house! The dogs were terrified. They had never seen such an animal before. Much to the jackal’s surprise, instead of attacking him, the dogs ran away yelping in fright.

A bit puzzled, but also very pleased with the dogs’ fright, the jackal returned to the forest. Every forest creature that saw him also ran away, squealing in terror. The jackal soon realized it was his strange new color that was scaring all the animals away. They did not recognize him as a jackal any more. The cunning jackal now hatched a plan. He called all the animals to him. When they had gathered, trembling, before him, he said, “Dear animals, do not be afraid. I will not harm you. I have been sent by the gods themselves to look after you, to make sure you come to no harm. In return, you will have to make me your king, and do as I say. Otherwise the gods will be angry with you.” The frightened animals agreed. They made him the king of the forest and did all that he asked. The jackal now had plenty to eat. He was never cold or hungry any more. Many months passed this way. One day, a pack of jackals came to live in the forest. Whenever the indigo jackal would see them, he would feel a strange desire to be with them, to be a jackal once again. One night, when the moon was full, the entire jackal pack lifted up their heads and howled. The indigo jackal could not stop himself. Forgetting his lies, he too lifted up his head and howled with the other jackals.

When the animals saw this, they realized they had been tricked. Their king was nothing but a common jackal! They were angry with themselves for having been fooled, and were furious with the jackal. When the jackal saw that the animals knew the truth, he tried to run away. But the furious animals chased him and caught and tore him to bits.

In the end, it wasn’t a very good idea of the jackal to pretend to be someone he was not, was it?