Becoming Narrative Inquirers (2003–2013)

Abstract

In our continued endeavors to improve practice, five of the Portfolio Group obtained their doctoral degrees in education with Cheryl Craig as their advisor. While each of their dissertations employed narrative inquiry (Clandinin and Connelly in Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. Wiley, San Francisco, CA, 2004) methods, the journey to becoming narrative inquirers began many years earlier during the school Portfolio Group days when introduced to the work of Clandinin and Connelly (Curriculum Inquiry 28(2): 149–164, 1998). Each came to recognize the import of telling stories (Clandinin and Connelly in Curriculum Inquiry 28(2): 149–164, 1998; Craig in Teaching Education 9(1): 61–68, 1997; Teaching and Teacher Education 15(4): 397–411, 1999)—school stories, teacher stories, researcher stories, sacred stories, and cover stories—as a way of understanding teacher experience, knowledge, and practice amid school contexts. Brief overviews of the five dissertations are provided, explicating the insights gained while assuming the new identity of narrative inquirer.