Storytelling as a tool to foster resilience: an arts-based study with postsecondary international students in the Newfoundland context

Ho, Sonia Siu Kwan (2025) Storytelling as a tool to foster resilience: an arts-based study with postsecondary international students in the Newfoundland context. Masters thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland.

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Abstract

This paper is a study of resilience regarding international students studying at Memorial University of Newfoundland, living in the St. John’s metro area. Using visual-based narrative inquiry, a form of arts-based research, participants were invited to share their resilience stories through discussions and book making in virtual group settings (Kim, 2019, p. 143). The benefits of arts-based research methods were explored: it equalized the power dynamic between the researcher and the researched, employed aesthetics to deepen the understanding of human experiences, and widened the readership and audience for research. Through this study, it is noted that resilience can be fostered and can vary based on the time, contexts, and challenges faced. The study concludes that arts-based practices can be used as a mental health tool to help foster resilience. Other areas as well as forms of support that Memorial University can employ and expand on to support the mental health and well-being of international students were also discussed, such as changing the university’s culture to that of learning for learning’s sake, involving all to become advocates through university-wide intercultural training and incorporating intercultural learning as well as mental health support within classroom settings, providing reflective spaces to further support staff and students. The author of this study intentionally explained her social contexts and subjective stance to increase transparency. In doing so, she hoped to provide a different perspective to this study of resilience: as a person of colour, a student support staff member at the University and a former newcomer.

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