Finding Hope through Hope Agents and Narratives in Times of Mourning

Abstract

In this chapter, we teacher educator researchers shared our narratives of mourning the death of loved ones. By utilizing Snyder's hope theory (1991), we analyzed our narratives of grief inspecting the three components of hope: goals, pathway thinking, and agency thinking. It was in this exploration, through dialogic interactions and constructivist approaches, that the authors explained narratives of grief (loss of spouse/loss of parent) and how these narratives were transformed to narratives of hope. Furthermore, we discussed Olan's (2015) descriptive narratives of grief, hope, and school experiences and how these can initiate the kinds of conversations and research that is imperative for teacher development and implicit in the everyday trials and tribulations present in educational institutions” (p. 1957). We used Freire's (2005) notion of “armed love” and “actionable hope” to foreground our work as we interacted and worked with teacher candidates, teachers, and teacher advocates. In this interaction and dialogue, we recounted how we co-constructed meaning through the navigation of loss, pain, and choices through borrowing the hope of others who became our “hope agents” (Lopez, 2013). In turn, we described how we used this shared hope to transform ourselves into hope agents while spreading hope through the act of teaching and working. Through multiple insights, encouragements, written reflections and reflexive dialogues, attainable goals and actions, i.e., hope strategies, we guided and facilitated discussions where teachers moved towards self-realization, sustainable hope, and personal growth while thinking about critical ways to approach grief in their lives, classrooms, and communities.