To be Heard, to be Seen, to Matter: Consequences of/for self in utilizing one's narrative

Abstract

This self-study describes the development and use in a preservice literacy course of the first author's narrative of her own schooling. The introduction to that narrative is included in this paper. The full text of the narrative also describes the impact of school readiness, resource placement, transience, poverty, and teachers' responses and expectations on my school experiences and my sense of self. Methods of data collection included students' anonymous responses to the narrative, in-class discussion, students' final course papers, my research journal, field notes, and retrospective re-analysis. The perspective of a colleague who is serving as a critical friend on my journey is incorporated in the paper as dialogical insets interrogating my practices and interpretations. Writing, analyzing, and using the narrative in my teaching served to clarify my understanding of how my childhood and schooling shape my current work. Sharing it with students was built on the belief that doing so would encourage their development of understanding for students who have histories and backgrounds unlike their own.