Passages: Improving Teacher Education Through Narrative Self-Study

Abstract

Narrative inquiry, the study of experience as story, is a methodology that can enhance our understanding of ourselves as teacher educators, our contexts and our practices. In the International Handbook of Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices, Clandinin and Connelly (2004) stated, “Narrative inquiry is a multi-dimensional exploration of experience involving temporality (past, present and future), interaction (personal and social), and location (place)” (p. 576). Narrative self-study, they suggested, opens up “understandings about participant knowledge” (p. 575). In this chapter, I trace my narrative self-study over 16 years in order to illustrate ways in which personal experience methods employed in narrative inquiry can contribute to deeper understandings of the personal and social dimensions of teaching and teacher education practices. Developing deeper understandings of our “personal practical knowledge” (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988) through narrative self-study can provide a solid foundation for improving our practices in the future. Narrative inquiry has been central to my own development as a teacher, educational researcher and teacher educator. I first encountered narrative inquiry in 1992, well before I became a teacher educator in 1999 or encountered self-study in 2002. I began inquiring into my teacher education practices in order to understand how my stories of experience informed my practices and how well I was meeting the needs of teacher candidates in my classes. Today I continue to employ narrative inquiry to study myself in my practice setting. When I was introduced to self-study, I discovered a community of teacher educators who share my interest in understanding the complexity of teacher education within its practice settings. Equally important, we share a commitment to researching practice in order to develop a more effective pedagogy for teacher education. We are pragmatic in our willingness to use a variety of research methods to understand and improve teacher education.