Congratulations to the new PhD  Lina Grundulaitė on successfully defending her doctoral dissertation “Narrative Learning of NGO Staff Working With Asylum-Seeking Foreigners” (Education Scence (S 007)) and  obtaining  PhD  deegree of Education in the field of Social Sciences, Scientific supervisor –  prof. dr. Irena Žemaitaitytė (Mykolas Romeris University, Social Sciences, Education Sciences, S 007) (Vilnius University).

The dissertation is available at: https://www.mruni.eu/events

A brief annotation is presented below. 

The dissertation focuses on the narrative learning of NGO staff working with foreign asylum seekers. The study is based on the theoretical and methodological frameworks of social constructionism and the interpretive paradigm. The narrative research methodology helps to reveal the narrative learning of NGO workers as a contextual and social construct. The main method of data collection was a 12-month field study in the Centre of the Foreigners’ Integration Programme of the Vilnius Archdiocese “Caritas”, where narrative interviews were conducted and ethnographic research data were collected. The data were analysed using narrative analysis models and narrative portraits of 4 NGO workers. The narrative portraits helped to reveal not only the characteristics of the expression of narrative learning in the NGOs and the role of context, but also the workers as individuals. The end of the dissertation summarises and discusses the findings of the research, interpreting what features of the expression of narrative learning emerge in the narrative portraits of the employees; how the context surrounding the employees conditions the narrative learning of the employees; and how the findings of the research extend narrative learning theory and how they are of use to working practices. The dissertation concludes with the research findings and recommendations.

Dissertation Defense Council:

Chairperson – prof. dr. Valdonė Indrašienė (Mykolas Romeris University, Social Sciences, Education, S 007);

Prof. dr. Rosita Deluigi (University of Macerata, Italian Republic, Social Sciences, Education, S 007);

Prof. dr Odeta Merfeldaitė (Mykolas Romeris University, Social Sciences, Education, S 007);

Prof. dr. Liudmila Rupšienė (Klaipėda University, Social Sciences, Education, S 007);

prof. dr. Margarita Teresevičienė (Vytautas Magnus University, Social Sciences, Education, S 007).