Our fifth proposal at Organisation Development Support (ODS) is to engage with knowledge beyond language, narratives and discourses such as those forms of knowledge conveyed by body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, etc. through alternative data collection methods like participatory observation, invisible theatres or forum theatres. This alternative knowledge should be captured and analysed as valuable data.

Encompassing non-verbal knowledge also addresses the ever-present risk of excluding those who cannot adequately engage with written and spoken language for several reasons including disability. It also provides the opportunity to unpack local meanings of language that are taken for granted as being universal when they are actually structured by cultural codes that are different from place to place.

What do you think?

Here are some resources to learn more (see links in comments):

🌱 Österlind, E. (2013). Evaluation of Theatre for Social Change: What counts and what is being counted? Applied Theatre Research, 1 (1), 91 – 106.

🌱 Denham, M. A., & Onwuegbuzie, A. J. (2013). Beyond Words: Using Nonverbal Communication Data in Research to Enhance Thick Description and Interpretation. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 12(1), 670-696.