Modes of Being: Mobilizing Narrative Inquiry

Abstract

Narrative inquiry’s capacities to reveal relational complexities and nuances of individuals and settings in varied contexts purposefully shape the lived curriculum within a community middle school setting. The experiential narratives of students, teachers, administrators, parents, and mentors contributing to the curricular documentation of the makings of this community have not only provided a medium to access these relations but also become an educative catalyst, opening into ongoing deliberations concerning the nature of education, knowledge, and what it means to be a community, by all involved. Grounded in Dewey’s primary notion of experience, participatory practices position each community member to bring their narratives of experience into the makings and remakings of community, elucidating modes of being and associated habits. Representative voices illuminate the mobilizing potential of narrative inquiry as a vital medium for reframing education within all institutions, communities, and beyond.