Conversational starters
Aligned to the early stages of my work, following an initial review of relevant literature, I wrote two triptychs of tales:
Boy to Man and Girl to Woman. They are designed to help start a conversation through prompting questions regarding some of the identified 'issues' that may be an influence (either directly or indirectly) on young people's relationship with nature. They do not make judgements, identify specific issues/problems or offer solutions. Their purpose is to help us explore what may be happening.
Moving further into my research, I began grappling with methodology - working out what to do, how to do it and why. This resulted in another story - Methodological Mud Wrestling.
In July 2015 I was surprised by a natural wonder - that captures the unpredictable nature of research - you have to be in the right place, at the right time, in the right frame of mind for the 'magic' to happen.
In June 2016 I was awarded the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Early Career Researcher, and one of my PhD supervisors, Dr Kaz Stuart, was awarded the VC's award for Research - a double celebration! As we celebrated receiving our awards, my Kaz commented, “There has to be a story about a large piece of glass to come Tracy!”
She was right, and here it is - Reflecting on Glass
​
Disclaimer: as the mother of four grown-up children, aunty and friend to many more (some of whom may be a similar age to the children in my stories) I would like to assert that the characters used are not based on any one of them, but an amalgamation of them all, and representative of thousands more attempting to grow up in the UK (and other developed countries) today. The stories have been shared at a number of conferences, seminars and workshops - nearly every time someone remarks - that's just like my neighbour/niece/child at the end of the street...
All stories are copyright of Tracy Hayes - you are welcome to use them, however please attribute them accurately. I would also like to hear from you as to why, when and where you have used my story, and how it went.