Metaphors from Alice in Wonderland illustrate firstly the ridiculous ...

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decide that my Blackberry with a built-in MPS would be sufficient to follow Alice electronically. My insights developed further through several discussions on dissonance and other psychological aspects with psychology students; on narrative writing and metaphors with an academic, and on identity and other philosophical aspects with UFS‟s Dean of the Faculty of Education. Simultaneously, as a staff member, student, parent and alumnus of the UFS, I started to indulge in my insider‟s view, and valued my own observations and experiences as opportunities to make meaning of the artefacts and data I collected for this study and to ponder over them. Selecting Appreciative Inquiry to guide the presentation of my data During this journey, I never questioned the correctness or appropriateness of the UFS‟s assumed institutional identity, but inquired about the existence or the awareness thereof. My quest was about making sense and being aware of this authentic institutional identity without inhibitions or preconceptions about the limitations of existing practices and policies, or the lack thereof. The rationale for my quest is to connect the value-adding functions of consciousness (Baars, 1997, 1998) with the metaphors (characters, images, similes, events, spaces and descriptions) that could influence and benefit the UFS, and that is precisely how I came to write this part of my study. As an insider, I wanted to make sense of my connection with my institutional community and reflected on the visuals that interested me personally and that formed part of my institution‟s authentic identity – a term effectively used by Chang (2008). I discovered a positive core when Jonathan Jansen (Vice Chancellor of the UFS) echoed “Kovsies, you don‟t know how wonderful you are”, eighteen months after the Reitz debacle at the opening of a student art exhibition on 11 November 2010 at the Oliewenhuis Art Museum. To enable me to have sufficient tools to convey my story appropriately, I selected Appreciative Inquiry (AI) as a supporting method. AI‟s 4D Cycle (discovery, dreaming, designing and destiny) offers me a structure to narrate my sense-making process – my journey – in a value-adding manner, as it would enable me to reflect on how the values embodied in the UFS‟s transformational process are steered towards the desired direction (or dream). While constituting cohesion and a unique identity, AI provides the scope to “study what gives life to human systems when they function at their best” (Whitney & Trosten-Bloom, 2010:1). Cooperrider, Whitney and Stravos (2003) regard AI as an inquiry to uncover profound knowledge entities of human systems in order to “co-construct the best and highest future of that system” (Watkins & Mohr, 2001:14-15). In this instance, the work of McKenzie (2003) and Berrisford (2005) substantiate the effectiveness of AI in organisations. This made me realise that outcomes of such a study could provide insight into the shifts in values, actions, behaviours and dreams as precursors of the envisaged transformation at the UFS. AI‟s 4D Cycle has been integrated into this study to encourage myself and others to discover the best things in the institution, to envisage or dream 21
transformational success, to reflect on the strategies for designing or shifting towards new values and identities in realising the dreams, and then to reflect on and celebrate what has been learned and how the movement towards the institution‟s goal has taken place in shaping the UFS‟s destiny (Whitney & Trosten-Bloom, 2010). I discovered that the positive core of the UFS is a century of achievements that are often emphasised by the current Vice Chancellor. Then I dreamed of what could be if I and the institution realised this stance and were conscious of its authentic institutional identity. After watching Tim Burton‟s Alice in Wonderland (2010), I ventured on a sense-making process that included a journey with Alice from the Underland to the Wonderland of the UFS‟s institutional identity. Finally, I expected that I would arrive safely at a destination where I, as marketing officer, had the authority and comfort to communicate and contribute visually to the identity-building of my institution and its mandated message. My starting point: Discovering identity consciousness My travel journal (as recorded via BBM and MPS) I met Alice at our agreed point-of-departure. Instead of using a GPS (Global Positioning System) to make sense of our journey, I used a MPS (Metaphor Positioning System) and BBM, using the browser option on our mobile phones to record Alice‟s route. Science differs in Wonderland, where the different branches of Arithmetic are Ambition, Distraction, Uglification, and Derision, and where the future is documented beforehand on the Oraculum – a calendar of all the days of Underland, each having its own title and illustration. We had no predetermined “route” or “course” and, therefore, no ETA [estimated time of arrival] or ETE [estimated time en route] or GFB [geo-fencing boundaries] for our journey. My “position” was the present “epoch” and Alice‟s, 147 years ago. Our position was somewhere between the beginning and the end of the journey. The UFS campus was our “control point” and I could locate Alice‟s actual position on the “moving map” screen. My MPS coordinates indicated that this time-of-departure was our time-of-noreturn, just as the moment the Reitz video appeared in the public domain in February 2008 – just as Alice followed a nervous clock-watching white rabbit who introduced himself in his hurry as Nivens McTwisp. As they tumbled down the rabbit tunnel, I heard him repeating: “I‟m late, I‟m late for a very important date!” My concern in terms of experiencing insecurity of what the identity of the UFS was and how it should be portrayed made me realise that I was, just like Alice, somewhere between the beginning and the 22
Page 1 and 2: Metaphors from Alice in Wonderland
Page 3 and 4: Acknowledgements This thesis would
Page 5 and 6: Conclusion ARTICLE 3 Appreciating v
Page 7 and 8: Three. Who, what and how we are Fou
Page 9 and 10: Appreciating the University of the
Page 11 and 12: The purpose of this study is, first
Page 13 and 14: Article 3 Appreciating visionary le
Page 15 and 16: juxtaposing, I became conscious of
Page 17 and 18: Who am I and what was my concern? M
Page 19 and 20: 90% of information coming to the br
Page 21 and 22: clues in the text. I took pictures
Page 23: lack of understanding of direction,
Page 27 and 28: transformation, maintaining conscio
Page 29 and 30: TweedleDee and TweedleDum, as my me
Page 31 and 32: My findings I kindled consciousness
Page 33 and 34: The value of institutional identity
Page 35 and 36: undertaken this identity-seeking jo
Page 37 and 38: that the individual or institution
Page 39 and 40: AUTHENTIC IDENTITY FORMATION Figure
Page 41 and 42: The ideals of human perfectibility
Page 43 and 44: Table 2.1: The Erik Erikson’s and
Page 45 and 46: COMPETENCE, the fourth status, was
Page 47 and 48: People inhabit different parts of t
Page 49 and 50: Changing the insider-outsider persp
Page 51 and 52: Towards an authentic identity As so
Page 53 and 54: I can apply the metaphor of wearing
Page 55 and 56: ARTICLE 3 Appreciating visionary le
Page 57 and 58: Figure 3.1: Vision dictated by comp
Page 59 and 60: the brain that are responsible for
Page 61 and 62: Hence, I reveal the dreams of Charl
Page 63 and 64: Charles, a romantic painter of drea
Page 65 and 66: FREDERICK FOURIE: The fact that it
Page 67 and 68: Figure 3.4: First-year Kovsies at t
Page 69 and 70: Figure 3.5: Vision guided by free-r
Page 71 and 72: ARTICLE 4 A look at the University
Page 73 and 74: The catalyst: World one One sunny m
Page 75 and 76:
attention that five of the eleven V
Page 77 and 78:
esearcher, in turn, may be seen as
Page 79 and 80:
constructed to describe a sequence
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In addition to the above psychologi
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Table 4.2: Leadership styles: Appro
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Sampling Purposive, systematic and
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Reactive ethical policies and pract
Page 89 and 90:
I used the above discourse to apply
Page 91 and 92:
The Reitz crisis created a climate
Page 93 and 94:
The quest to discover and live our
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Indeed, these metaphors transported
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Alice and I are co-travellers throu
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Heewon Chang‟s work-in-progress c
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1973). James Burns first introduced
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professional life. Herminia Ibarra
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created for her the challenge of pu
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was to continue doing non-creative
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journey. Personal values, principle
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The Caucus-race By Lewis Carroll (1
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Phase Eight: Be grateful Gratitude
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Wonderland did not exist and I need
Page 117 and 118:
We sensed thousands of experiences
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often experienced visitations of wh
Page 121 and 122:
Tarrant Hightop, the Mad Hatter (to
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(Figure 5.3) is directive towards b
Page 125 and 126:
the only modes of travel mentioned
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the same day that I made an entranc
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POSTSCRIPT The author developed an
Page 131 and 132:
Busche, G. (1998). Appreciative Inq
Page 133 and 134:
Frank, C. (1999). Ethnographic eyes
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Livingstone, D. & Harrison, R. (198
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for community colleges. Retrieved 1
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Whitney, D. & Ludema, J. (2006). Ap
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ADENDUM: PLACE During this study I
Page 144 and 145:
POINT OF DELIVERY I wrote the final
Page 146 and 147:
ADENDUM: MODES OF TRAVEL (continued
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