| Written as an autobiography, this thesis utilizes storytelling to narrate and reflect upon the author's life experiences. Building on narrative inquiry, which is both research methodology and phenomenon, the term metanarrative is used to portray the teller of the storied life. In the retelling, the author composes the stories as a "Symphony of my Sol" and makes use of Hector Berlioz' Fantastic Symphony---written in five movements---as her overriding structural framework. The symphony is a Gesamtkuntswerk , a term coined by Richard Wagner, meaning a total work of art, and for the purpose of this thesis includes dance, drama, literature, opera, mythology, symphony, poetry, and visual art.; The self has been left out of the curriculum: This thesis examines self in relationship to others, society, the environment, and mysterious realms beyond the logical mind-the world of mythology. The metanarrative is a story about relationships. The thesis journey is spiritual in nature and takes into account the 'holistic' perspective, which lies within the paradigm of whole systems of which the author is a part. The role of the arts (Fine Arts, Creative Arts, and Expressive Arts) is examined as a means of illuminating the many layers as observer of self, and the multiple ways of knowing.; The author's life experiences are described as a journey into literacy and draws upon stories from classical literature, Alice in Wonderland, The Alchemist, and Goethe's fairy tale Das Marchen, that parallel unfolding self-awareness. The journey points to transformation (alchemy); that is, union of the male and female aspects of self, and spirit and soul.; The data reveals there is a connection between literacy and consciousness: reading life experiences as text. By reconstructing her own journey into literacy, the author has sketched a road map that can be read as a method for developing a new arts-based curriculum course combining the holistic teaching/learning dialogic for the concept of relational knowing. |
