State-funded preschool educators respond to grief-related programming: A narrative inquiry of relational care

Purpose Currently, there is a lack of evidence of culturally safe approaches for addressing family violence (FV) experienced by ethnic communities in Aotearoa–New Zealand. This paper aims to report findings that may help develop FV strategies specific to African, Middle Eastern and Latin American victim-survivors. The study is significant in light of the recent proposals that community-led and community-mobilising approaches would be most effective for addressing FV within ethnic communities. Findings from this study indicate that community-led approaches can only be safely used if and when the identified critical issues are addressed. Design/methodology/approach Narrative inquiry methodology guided the original study. This methodology effectively creates spaces where participants can narrate their lived experiences and “stories” from their perspectives. First-hand telling and hearing their stories is empowering, considering the many forms of social exclusion these communities face. Through semi-structured interviews, a space was created for the participants in this study to share their experiences of successfully or unsuccessfully accessing the victims of family violence visa policy. The stories shared included factors that made seeking help inside and outside their communities less or more challenging. Findings Findings from this study indicate that community-led approaches can only be safely used if and when the identified critical issues are addressed. The issues identified include the small and dispersed size of the communities, which impacts support networks and conditions created by immigration visa status, a critical factor linked to reporting, help-seeking and support offered to victim-survivors by the community members. Research limitations/implications The study sample focused on Middle Eastern, Latin American and African communities and only a small sample within these communities. Therefore, it cannot present information explaining all factors that could be considered in developing and implementing FV strategies for ethnic communities. FV is complex and often goes under-reported. The participants in this study were self-referred. The victim-survivors in this study had sought help, engaged with relevant support services, and were willing to share their experiences. These findings cannot be extrapolated to ethnic victim-survivors who have not sought institutional help or have access to advocacy services. Therefore, generalisations should be made with caution. Practical implications The evidence provided in this paper suggests that community-based approaches, including community mobilisation and current approaches using state-based legal tools, will not be effective unless the issues identified are addressed. The article suggests ways of addressing these issues to implement community-based strategies safely. Further research is needed with a large sample of ethnic victim-survivors from specific ethnic communities to gain further insight into the factors impacting these strategies’ effectiveness. Social implications As highlighted in the literature review section, some significant New Zealand Government initiatives increasingly call for community-led and culturally responsive FV strategies. Considering the findings from this study, some critical questions should be asked. The first is whether such strategies would be effective at all. The second is, if such strategies are to be implemented, how can this be done safely so as not to cause further harm to the victim-survivors? The findings also question whether current strategies, mainly those using the legal system as the main protection mechanism for ethnic victim-survivors, are enough. Originality/value Recent New Zealand Government-based studies investigating strategies that could effectively address FV experienced by ethnic communities have highlighted and proposed community-led and community-mobilising approaches for addressing FV with ethnic communities. However, a lack of evidence of culturally safe approaches was identified as a significant gap. This paper reports findings that may help develop FV strategies specific to African, Middle Eastern and Latin American victim-survivors. Findings from this study indicate that community-led approaches can only be safely used if and when the identified critical issues are addressed.

Depression and anxiety are among the most prevalent mental health disorders globally, often leading to significant impairments in daily functioning. While traditional treatments are practical, complementary approaches-such as nature-based and animal-assisted therapies-are gaining recognition. Home aquariums may offer a safe, accessible, and underexplored therapeutic modality for individuals experiencing these conditions. This study aimed to explore the experiences of individuals with depression and/or anxiety who interact daily with fish in a home aquarium, using narrative inquiry to understand the therapeutic potential of fishkeeping. A qualitative narrative inquiry design guided by Clandinin and Connelly's framework and Smith and Liehr's Story Theory was employed. Seven participants were recruited through social media and interviewed via Zoom. Data were analyzed through the dimensions of temporality, sociality, and spatiality to uncover patterns and meaning in participants' stories. Participants described fishkeeping as a source of emotional therapy, social connection, and personal growth. Themes included reconnecting with memories, finding purpose through caregiving, and experiencing calm and creativity through aquascaping. The aquarium served as a therapeutic environment that fostered resilience, reduced stress, and enhanced well-being. Home aquariums offer a nature-based, person-centered approach to mental health, fostering comfort, creativity, and resilience. This study supports integrating animal-assisted therapies into holistic models. Future research is needed to explore broader applications, long-term outcomes, and comparative efficacy across diverse populations.

This study aims to describe relevant digital marketing strategies to improve the competitiveness of the Rafika Dompo Banana MSME in Soguo Village, Bolaang Uki District, South Bolaang Mongondow Regency, and analyze the supporting and inhibiting factors in implementing these strategies. This study uses a qualitative approach with a case study method. Data collection was conducted through observation, in-depth interviews with the owner, employees, and consumers, and documentation. The data analysis technique used a narrative inquiry model. The results of the study indicate that the digital marketing implementation of the Rafika Dompo Pisang MSME is still at a basic stage, utilizing WhatsApp and Facebook organically with simple content managed directly by the owner. Limited digital knowledge, minimal paid promotion budget, and suboptimal utilization of marketplace platforms are the main obstacles. Nevertheless, promotion through social media has been proven to increase product visibility and reach consumers. Supporting factors include maintained product quality, government support for licensing, and consignment collaboration. Consumer perception of the product is very positive, and existing digital promotions are considered to assist in purchasing decisions. In conclusion, the implemented digital marketing strategy is still simple but has a positive impact. Increasing competitiveness requires strategy optimization through increased digital literacy, platform diversification, and more planned resource allocation.

Introduction Before menopause, women experience declines in physical activity, which is a gendered phenomenon. This study explores factors that inform physical activity beliefs, behaviors, and experiences among premenopausal women participating in a group-based dance fitness workplace intervention. Methods Two focus groups (n = 11) were conducted with participants enrolled in a 6-week group-based dance fitness trial. A narrative inquiry using thematic analysis was used to identify themes to contextualize the experience participants had within the context of the intervention. Results There were lived experiences that informed participants’ intervention experience, namely, a desire for exercise consistency and a historically negative relationship with exercise. Women consistently reported that the exercise done in the intervention was fun and brought feelings of social connectedness and comfort, thus positively impacting their experiences. These encounters led to the reporting of changes in behavior, perceived health outcomes, and perceptions of exercise, which positively influenced their intention to continue being physically active. Conclusion This study provides an understanding of intervention strategies and lived experiences that may be useful to improve the physical activity behaviors and health of women before menopause occurs. Physical activity programs incorporating women’s lived experiences and unique preferences may align with the exercise women report a desire to have in their lives.

Abstract Applied behavior analysis is a quantitative field. We calculate frequency of responses per minute, percentage of incorrect and correct responses, percentage of agreement across raters on a regular basis. The safety in numbers can be comfortable—they are clear and objective. However, numbers do not provide the whole picture of a person’s experience. Qualitative approaches provide valuable insights into the lived experience of people. Yet, undertaking qualitative approaches can be scary for those of us in a quantitative field. The subjective data and findings can be extremely challenging to navigate. There is also the matter of feeling like an imposter or a fraud. In this personal narrative inquiry, I tell my story of embracing qualitative approaches as a behavior analyst, the challenges and the surprising discoveries of the depths this data could help us reach. The relevance of qualitative approaches lies in understanding how various qualitative methods and approaches can enhance our understanding of lived experience. Some points about qualitative research are drawn out for context, and my personal experience is explored to show the journey, joys, and challenges of discovering and embracing qualitative research as a behavior analyst.

ABSTRACT Active learning (AL) is widely endorsed for its educational benefits, yet its practical application can be complex. This study explores how undergraduate nursing students experience AL within a semester-long course. Using a narrative inquiry approach, data were collected through reflective letters and semi-structured interviews. Findings reveal a rich tapestry of perceptions: students appreciated opportunities for engagement and professional growth but also voiced challenges, including unclear educator roles, group work difficulties, and emotional fatigue. Importantly, students provided thoughtful recommendations to enhance AL, emphasizing the need for improved group dynamics and active educator involvement. Structural and thematic analyses uncovered both the potential and the pitfalls of AL strategies, particularly within crowded and resource-limited classrooms. The study underscores the value of listening to student voices to develop responsive, flexible teaching practices. By examining the nuanced realities of AL, this research contributes to refining pedagogical approaches in nursing education and beyond.

Reflexivity, the critical self-examination of one’s role in the research process, has become increasingly central as researchers navigate positionality, power, and methodological bias when working across diverse sociocultural and linguistic contexts. Yet, intercultural research often overlooks the affective, relational, and embodied dimensions of collaboration that shape how knowledge is produced. This paper examines how transnational, multilingual researchers negotiated ontological and epistemological differences during an intercultural research project in Thailand, and how lived, embodied forms of knowing can challenge culturally situated power structures and inform more relationally attuned research practice. Drawing on reflexive autoethnography and narrative inquiry, we reconstruct our experiences from a 2025 interdisciplinary project on trauma-sensitive education in Thailand. Using storytelling and restorying, we analyse two unexpected fieldwork incidents to explore how emic and etic positionalities, affective responses, and intra-team relational dynamics informed our collaborative praxis. The narratives reveal that intercultural research is deeply entangled with affective labour, ethical decision-making, and shifting positionalities. Disruptive incidents, ranging from injury to culturally mediated non-participation, exposed divergent understandings of trust, care, power, and voice. These encounters illustrate how intercultural sensitivity arises through relational reflexivity rather than procedural competence, and how hierarchical cultural scripts shape participation, silence, and agency. The study demonstrates that effective intercultural collaboration requires epistemic flexibility: the capacity to navigate between cultural logics, negotiate multiple ways of knowing, and create “third spaces” where epistemological differences are acknowledged without privileging any single framework. This highlights the need for affective awareness, relational responsibility, and reflexive openness in theorizing and practising intercultural research.

ABSTRACT I reflect on autobiographical experiences to unpack non-dominant language (NDL) learners’ educational barriers. I connect my lived experiences as an English learner and educator to multilingual learners in Nepal, who are deprived of education in the mother tongue. I aim to proffer input for language policy, planning, and pedagogical development to minimize language-based disparities in schools and support language maintenance. This approach allows me to deeply engage with impactful events, actions, and relationships as an English learner and teacher and helps me relate my school-based experiences to linguistically marginalized children. By unpacking parental literacy, literacy in the home language, corpus planning, home-school distance, pedagogical practice, school environment, discriminatory practice, and language attitude as critical issues affecting multilingual children’s schooling, this narrative identifies and calls for attention to multilingual children’s invisibility in school. This study has direct implications for NDL children’s school access and success, and NDLs’ maintenance as it helps enrich our understanding of NDL children’s multilayered school-based barriers from a unique sociolinguistic context. This study informs language advocates, policymakers, educators, and researchers who are concerned about the roots of academic disparity among NDL children and the endangerment of NDLs as a consequence of unjust language policy and practice.

This study explores the intricate and evolving nature of language teacher identity (LTI) through a narrative inquiry into the life stories of four Mexican English language teachers. LTI plays a pivotal role in shaping educators' self-perceptions, pedagogical decisions, and classroom interactions. Using a qualitative narrative approach, the research delves into the participants' biographies to reveal how their personal experiences, cultural backgrounds, and professional contexts influence the formation of their identities. The findings highlight three central identity frames: instructional, disciplinary, and professional. Instructional identities are molded by classroom practices and student interactions, while disciplinary identities are shaped by the teachers' knowledge and beliefs about language education. Professional identities, on the other hand, emerge from a blend of experiences, motivations, and aspirations. Notably, the study uncovers the significant role of caring practices in resolving identity tensions, aligning with ethics of care theory. These insights enhance the understanding of LTI as a dynamic and continually negotiated construct, influenced by various educational contexts. The study underscores the importance of reflective and caring practices in teacher education programs to support the comprehensive development of teacher identity.

ABSTRACT The professionalisation of Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) has gained international prominence due to its role in fostering children’s lifelong learning and contributing to societal economic growth. This paper explores professionalism in the ECEC workforce in England, focusing on tensions between policy, qualifications and the experiences of early years educators. Drawing on critical pedagogy and Bernstein’s pedagogic device, we explore how power dynamics and inequalities have led to the de-professionalisation of early years educators, positioning them as subordinate to teachers in compulsory education. Through narrative inquiry with 15 participants, we highlight the challenges and opportunities for early years educators to reclaim agency, foster criticality and transform their professionalism. The findings highlight a need to re-conceptualise ECEC professionalism, to prioritise practitioner autonomy, equitable policies and develop an integrated approach to workforce development through a sector-wide commitment to change that empowers early years educators as agents of pedagogic and policy innovation.

This paper advances the theoretical foundations of executive coaching by focusing on Leader/ship identity work. While executive coaching is widely used for leadership development, its application through identity work is limited due to a lack of conceptual frameworks and evidence-based practices. The paper aims to integrate Leader/ship identity work into executive coaching, enhancing both theory and practice. Based on a qualitative doctoral study using Narrative Inquiry with 34 expert global coaches conducted between 2017 and 2024, it introduces the Mechanism of Executive Coaching for Leader/ship Identity Work and presents executive coaching as an Identity Enhancement Space, refining coaching concepts and practices.

The urgency of this study lies in the need for a deeper understanding of the implementation of the Gotong Royong (Collaborative) Dimension within the P5 Project among fifth-grade students at SDN 7 Kecapi. This research aims to analyze the implementation of the Gotong Royong dimension in the P5 Project for fifth-grade students. A qualitative approach with a narrative inquiry method was employed. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and document analysis, and the study was conducted at SDN 7 Kecapi Jepara with fifth-grade students as the research subjects. The findings reveal that the implementation of the Gotong Royong dimension in the Profil Pelajar Pancasila (P5) Project was carried out systematically through an entrepreneurship-themed project titled “Market Day.” The values of gotong royong—including collaboration, empathy, and sharing—were successfully fostered through various activities such as group discussions, task distribution, and hands-on practice in producing and selling products. Through this project, students experienced meaningful learning aligned with the core objectives of the P5 program. They not only acquired knowledge but also developed skills and attitudes reflected in their application of the Gotong Royong dimension during the “Market Day” activities, which were carried out according to procedures and ran smoothly.

The Department of Basic Education in South Africa continually strives to improve the quality of education it provides to learners in public schools. One of the primary yardsticks used to gauge the department's progress in providing quality education is the matriculation examination results. While many schools across different contexts have shown improvements in matriculation results, there are still pockets of schools that appear to be on a backward trajectory. This paper reports on a study that focused on these schools in one of KwaZulu-Natal's townships to understand the causality of their decline. Critical realism constituted the theoretical framework through which we understood the causes of school decline. The narrative inquiry, a qualitative way of studying human life, was adopted to engage narratively with the lived experiences of key stakeholders in declining schools. The findings revealed several mechanisms indicating a paralysis of the structure, culture, and agency domains of the sampled schools

For too long, P-12 educational spaces have operated under a deficit narrative; giving little to no acknowledgement to the ancestral and traditional knowledge of the communities in which they are located. The authors of this study utilized a qualitative narrative inquiry to explore the experiences of five school counselors who have incorporated forms of Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) into their school counseling program. Participants offered a glimpse into their integration of the different forms of capitals (i.e., aspirational, linguistic, navigational, social, familial, resistant) under CCW, and their commitment of changing the deficit narrative traditionally found in P-12 education, into one of empowerment and recognition. The overarching results of this study explores the participating school counselors’ motivation, dedication, and responsibility to the community these school counselors experienced through intentional acknowledgement of community wealth.

This study analyzed the effects of constant exposure to English as a foreign language on developing Spanish as the first language among elementary school students. This research study was oriented from a historical hermeneutical paradigm, using a qualitative approach and a narrative inquiry. The study involved English language, Spanish language, and pedagogical support from teachers who examined students’ bilingual learning experiences. The researchers applied four data collection techniques: an observation guide, an open-ended survey, a semi-structured interview, and a questionnaire, all of which sought to highlight the importance of a balanced approach to language education that values and supports the development of first and foreign languages. This integrated perspective was vital for ensuring students can effectively navigate the complex landscape of learning languages while preserving their personal, linguistic, and cultural identities. The study highlights the importance of balancing learners' native language with English proficiency, emphasizing cultural preservation and linguistic identity for thriving in a globalized world.

ABSTRACT Previous academic literature has outlined the issues many current and retired male professional footballers face in their careers. Many agree that the pressures and expectations of playing professional football in England come with myriad physical and psychological challenges. Professional footballers must maintain balance in both their personal and professional lives, and there has been growing interest in exploring the experiences of professional players. The present research explores the experiences of a retired male professional footballer. The participant was recruited purposively and has over 700 senior first team appearances and has represented clubs from the English Football League Two through to the English Premier League. A semi-structured interview was conducted, and a thematic narrative enquiry approach was used to analyse the data. The semi-structured interview was designed to explore the participant’s lived experiences of playing professional football in England, the psychological challenges they faced both personally and professionally, and their coping strategies.

Social studies education at predominantly white institutions (PWIs) in the United States has long centered whiteness and Eurocentric knowledge production. In response, Black women teacher education faculty have engaged in intentional decolonizing practices to challenge dominant narratives and center marginalized perspectives. This study explored the experiences of Black women social studies education professors as they enacted curricular resistance and coped with institutional barriers at PWIs. Through narrative inquiry, participants revealed how they strategically used curriculum as a site of transformation, interrogating racialized knowledge, re-centering silenced voices, and equipping prospective educators with anti-racist pedagogies. While their work often lacked institutional support and carried significant emotional and professional risks, participants relied on culturally grounded coping strategies, including boundary setting, spiritual practice, and collectivist support networks, to sustain their efforts. Findings underscore the critical, yet often unsupported role Black women faculty play in reshaping teacher education for equity and justice.

Abstract Black women remain acutely underrepresented in senior leadership roles within higher education, often experiencing precarious appointments during times of institutional instability—a phenomenon known as the “glass cliff.” While existing research addresses the barriers to leadership access, limited scholarship explores what happens once Black women assume these high-risk roles. This study asks, “What are the lived experiences of Black women in high-level leadership roles in higher education, and how do they describe navigating workplace cultures shaped by the intersections of race and gender?” Using narrative inquiry, the researchers conducted semi-structured interviews with five Black women who have held high-level academic leadership positions. Participants were recruited through purposive and snowball sampling. Data were thematically analyzed using a five-step coding process, with multivocality and researcher reflexivity employed to ensure rigor. Findings revealed eight interrelated themes, including the impact of racial and gender identity on professional trajectories, limited mentorship and sponsorship, inequitable compensation, and persistent organizational cultures reflective of glass cliff conditions. Participants described feeling devalued, under-supported, and excluded from critical decision-making spaces. Despite these challenges, they demonstrated resilience and emphasized the importance of culturally affirming support systems, intentional recruitment practices, and transparent institutional cultures. This study contributes to higher education leadership literature by demonstrating how misogynoir and racialized organizational risk shape Black women’s leadership experiences post-appointment. The findings call for urgent structural reforms in recruitment, support, and retention strategies to ensure that Black women not only access leadership roles but are positioned to thrive within them.

Long Covid is the persistence of symptoms beyond 12 weeks following acute Covid-19 infection. It is estimated to affect one in ten people and can be extremely debilitating. With few publicly funded long Covid clinics, most people rely on primary care providers as a first point of contact. There is currently limited understanding of the experience of accessing primary health care by adults living with long Covid in New Zealand. To explore the experiences of accessing primary health care by adults living with long Covid. A narrative inquiry approach was used to capture participants lived experiences of accessing primary health care. Zoom interviews and discussions were conducted with study participants. The automatically generated transcripts were reviewed and corrected, and the collated data were analysed using Braun and Clarke's thematic analysis. Eighteen people participated in the interviews. Codes were identified and, through an iterative process, themes were generated, reviewed, and named. The seven themes included lack of upskilling of primary care staff; let down by the Government; self-advocacy and its cost; and throwing money at it. The picture painted by participants was bleak with a sense that the world had moved on from Covid-19 and left them behind, with some experiencing a lack of support in primary health care. Reducing the likely long-term health and economic burden of long Covid requires targeted investment and action by Government at every level, along with better utilisation of the allied health workforce in primary care.