Reviving The Picaresque Story For Your Classroom

The stories told in case studies, textbooks, and our classrooms often follow a hero narrative, where a manager or organisation triumphs against the odds. However, the structure of these narratives removes complexity, therefore doing little to prepare students for the realities of work and failing to develop their skills in critical thinking. This interactive session introduces participants to a Spanish story-type known as the picaresque and shows how it can be used as a pedagogical tool. By encouraging participants to develop heroic and picaresque stories of Steve Jobs at Pixar, we will explore how the picaresque presents a more complex portrait of life in organisations for developing critical thinking skills in students.