Presentation of Erving Goffman`s dramaturgical approach. SEMINAR FOR FIRST-YEAR PHD/EDD STUDENTS - FALL 2009 & WINTER 2010 University of Calgary I will be happy to share the full text for this presentation if you need it. Contact me avatarnadezda@gmail.com

1. Ladies and gentlemen, today´s performing…. “ the self “

2. What is happening in these situations? Performing the self…

3. What is happening in these situations? People are giving a performance, showing one of their fronts in a face to face encounter.

5. More systematic work: Kenneth Burke

6. Idea of dramatism, “terministic screens”

7. Distinction of action and motion (things move, men act)

9. Examples: politics, mass communications, leadership, social movements, rituals, ceremonies

11. About Erving Goffman Born in 1922 in Alberta, Canada University of Toronto, University of Chicago Most incisive contributions to social psychology Interested in exploring the borders: writing on total institutions, stigma, gender relations, role distance and frames

12. About Erving Goffman Veryconcernedwiththemicrosociology Everything people did on face to face interactions The self is the central organizing feature of all social encounters Giddens and Habermas -very influenced by Goffman

13. About Erving Goffman His mayor publications The presentation of self in everyday life‎, 1959 Asylums: essays on the social situation of mental patients and other inmates, 1961 Encounters: two essays in the sociology of interaction‎, 1961 Stigma: notes on the management of spoiled identity‎, 1963 Behavior in public places: Notes on the social organization of gatherings, 1963 Interaction ritual: essays in face-to-face behavior‎, 1967 Strategic interaction, 1969 Relations in public: microstudies of the public order, 1971 Frame analysis: an essay on the organization of experience, 1974 Gender advertisements: 1979 Forms of talk, 1981 Articles, Essays, Monographs published as books

15. The self

16. Social order

17. He shows a very subversive writing

19. Where individuals present themselves to one another?

20. Dramaturgy is a way of understanding social encounters using the analogy of a stage, or theatrical performance

23. Small scale interactions more than a bigger stage

26. Setting - Physical layout and backgrounds

27. Appearance - Everything we can do to our bodies

28. Manner - What we do with our bodies

29. Front stage

30. Back stage

31. Face to face interaction – influence upon another´s actions

32. Encounter – interaction that occurs one occasion

33. Performance – activity of a given participant on any occasion

35. Dramatic realization - individual must express what he wishes to convey

36. Role embracement- Idealized roles incorporate officially accredited values of society. E.g. Teacher, priests, parenthood, students.

38. Face-work: so he will not put himself at risk, or won’t be stigmatized or marked

40. When a person violates moral demands of society

41. When is different from the assumed categories

42. When he posses an attribute that makes him differentWhen someone does not live to those expectations others become morally offended. Therest: Normals Stigma Discredited: people with apparent stigmas: Handicapped Discreditable: well known but not apparent stigmas: rigid beliefs, unemployed, homosexuals, homeless, alcoholism, suicidal attempts, radical political behavior Tribal stigma: race, nation, religion

44. Being productive, being successful, not being a criminal

45. Society is dominated by individualism and competition

46. We live in a society were failure is common

47. Mark- a person who has compromised himself, in his own eyes if not in the eyes of others.

48. Leaving a role maybeinterpreted as a mark

49. Eg: when a woman voluntarily gives up a profession in order to become a wife and a mother

51. Goffman in education The "Cooling-Out" Function in Higher Education adaptation to failure gives “solutions” or cooling-out strategies for students who do not fulfill schools requirements Using Goffman's concepts to explore collaborative interaction processes in elementary school mathematic the different roles that emerge in the process of collaborative interaction the influence of these roles on group achievement and individual learning possibilities

52. Goffman in education Lives in 2 languages: An exploration of identity and culture discussion about the American identity common misperceptions about immigrants as students Addressing the baseline: Erving Goffman and ethics in a postgraduate degree for practicing teachers. Problem: Students generally experience great difficulty with conceptual thinking Findings: Students research changed to go beyond simple description to observations guided by theoretical ideas Showed how context relates to the forms of behavior in public and to the situation of observing these forms. Provided insights into an ordinary situation and was a valid way to study characters in that setting Observation can be focused on looking for specific things rather than trying to note everything

53. Face - work in facebook Sel-f presentation theories - internet was not invented or in use Face to face interaction Online? A Study of Self-Presentation in Light of Facebook ‘Screw Blackboard... do it on Facebook!’: an investigation of students’ educational use of Facebook

54. Face - work in facebook A Study of Self-Presentation in Light of Facebook How Goffman´s approach may be transported to online social networks How Facebook contributes to our understanding of self-presentation. Self-presentation is an especially significant element of Facebook. Facebook is different from face-to-face interactions in that very little is done spontaneously This means that the self-presentation I under control…. Or not?

55. Face - work in facebook ‘Screw Blackboard... do it on Facebook!’: an investigation of students’ educational use of Facebook To observe the social significance of Facebook in the lives of undergraduate university students in the UK Micro-management of their social lives Its combination of self-presentation, viewing of others’ personal information and situational relevance to campus life proved attractive to students They use it for the informal aspects of their education Education and university-related exchanges - a minor constituent of student postings Facebook appear to be an important arena within which the ‘behind the scenes work’ are performed “Raises important questions about how universities will articulate their teaching relationships with internal student cohorts”

56. Conclusions Clear to understand Simple to apply for a highly qualitative interpretivist perspective Online self presentation, social networks, e-learning platforms, environments - new theories/amendments Applied: Societies: rigid beliefs, image as an important issue Education: students behavior, counseling, academic, stake holders roles in policy implementation, etc. Medical field: Doctor-patient relationship, ethics. Political field: leadership personalities, scandals (Watergate) No one can stay out of performing different roles in their life… “The world is a wedding”