Narrative value theory: an educational biography as an iterative theory-of-self

Abstract

ABSTRACT Personal narratives can be seen as iterative theories-of-valued-selves: thick, deliberate outlines traced over and selectively enhancing and obscuring the finer details of life as lived. Through telling such stories we represent and orient ourselves towards certain potential actions while turning away from others. Biographical narration is in this way a mobilisation of our pasts to identify valued futures. This article draws together narrative theory, identity psychology and educational philosophy to submit a tentative theory of educational narratives as iterative theories of personal value. The author’s autoethnographic account of completing a postgraduate course online throughout the COVID pandemic is then used as the basis for an inductive analysis of narrative features and their felt and represented significance. This process highlights the ways in which the author’s personal narrative can be read as a theory-of-valued-self, identifying key moments of interaction which characterise the narrator’s valued identity and open causal pathways to future valued action. Such practices may have potential in application with so-called ‘lifelong learners’, adults who continually engage with education throughout life particularly in response to major professional and personal disruption which can otherwise result in a lack of continuity and identity coherence.