Personal Narratives and Policy: Never the Twain? (original) (raw)
This bibliography has been composed based on the consultation of the ERIC database (1966-2007) and the Milbank Library catalogue (Teachers College, Columbia University). Since 2002, many references have been added, based on additional research on the Internet (including commercial websites), in books, or through personal contacts. The third version of this bibliography has been organized by themes and by types of sources (chapters, books and documents; papers, journals and conference proceedings). Despite the fact that this bibliography brings together approximately 450 references it is not an exhaustive one. Instead, its purpose is to introduce a broad field of study illustrating its diversity, as it can be observed in the English-speaking field of education and mainly in the American, Canadian and British field of education. From an international perspective, this bibliography can also be a complement to non English-speaking bibliographies already existing.
Some reflections on autobiography as an interpretative tool in the history of education
In contrast to more classical historiographical-educational currents, constituted by narratives in which a pristine will that embodied equally pristine pedagogical ideals prevailed, the new and reinforced versions of history highlight the ambiguous and contradictory character of political-pedagogical discourses. The narratives made available here do not refer to biographies of destiny, monolithic and finished; rather, they propose visions where life is traced as a trajectory, as a project, traversed by chance. In order to make these events intelligible, the toolbox used gradually includes more and more devices that allow us to approach the evanescent character of life, the account of vicissitudes or the account of events. To this end, autobiography comes to our aid to broaden the horizon of intelligibility
1996
The relationship between research and autobiography is explored. The planned study was a qualitative study of literacy methods instruction at the college level, a case study of one class of students and their professor. The study was based on the premise that preservice teachers need experience-based learning opportunities in the classroom in order to acquire a practical teaching pedagogy and knowledge base. As the study progressed, it became not just an observer's account of another teacher, but a self-reflective and open-ended research narrative. The issue of the researcher's subjectivity became an important dimension of the work. Unless the researcher understood herself in relation to the study, there was no basis for judging alternatives, initiating change, and responding to students' needs in the learning process. Autobiography became a link between theory and practice in the dual roles of teacher and researcher. It played a role by allowing the researcher to make sense of experience after the fact. (Contains three handout pages and nine references.) (SLD)
Critical Autobiography as Research
2017
Identity is a reflection of how people view themselves within the social structure (Campbell, 2010; Hill & Thomas, 2000). Too often these identities are mirror images of normalized labels and affiliations defined by, and through, social norms and values. Introspective of social constructs and teachings of normalcy, often times one's identity and status is never questioned (Ramsey, 2004). Juxtaposing systemic thinking with personal knowledge, this article offers insights into the uses and contributions of critical autobiographical research as a both paradigm of research and practice. This article seeks to link the application of critical autobiography with educational practice and theory to promote social justice, identity development, and lifelong learning. Keywords: Autobiographical Research, Narrative Inquiry, Identity Development Autobiographical stories are more than personal narratives. Stories reflect a set of values, rules, and norms that govern a person's learning an...
Biographical Learning" reloaded. Theoretical grounding of a challenging appoach
Adult Education Critical Issues
This article discusses an apparently 'outdated' concept of thinking about learning within the lifespan. Obviously, the term 'biographical learning' has been replaced by the label of 'lifelong learning'. In a first section, this position is critically examined and the importance of the biography for all learning experiences is emphasised. In a second step of argumentation, it is conceptually specified what the peculiarity of biographical learning actually is. The specifity of this learning concept can only be understood from a biographical perspective through the dimensions of 'temporality', 'contextuality' and 'reflexivity'. The concluding third part introduces the concept of 'biographicity' and proposes a theoretical understanding of the complex biographical learning idea using the 'grammar metaphor' from language theory.
Autobiography and Effective Teaching
Journal of Psychology, 2012
In recent decades life stories have begun to inform research, and various studies acknowledge the usefulness of understanding coherence and meaning in narratives. A person's life story reflects past experiences, reveals the present and shows how the future is envisaged. It is a script that paints some coherence and development in people. This qualitative action research focused on the life stories of two kindergarten teachers who taught in Black African day-care centres in South Africa. It investigated the narrative identities of these teachers. Among the major findings in the case studies was the intentionality of the life story; it has a potential of addressing aspects that might have left a void in people's lives. They use their life stories to enhance the positive experiences from their stories and discount aspects that they deemed detrimental to the social health of the children. Therefore, the teachers' own positive and negative experiences of their childhoods became invaluable in enhancing learning in their classes.
EDUCATIONAL BIOGRAPHY AS A MEANS OF CRITICAL REFLECTION
The main target of this paper is to present educational biography and its potential to become a critical reflection tool for the development of adult educators. Educational biography is understood as an oral or written testimony of a person in relation to the sum of his/her learning experiences, either within or outside the education system. Individual educational biographies expressively expose the way that people interact with their educational environment and construct their professional identities, as well as their thinking manners. On the other hand, critical self-reflection is a term that has many interpretations and definitions. However, it remains the main cognitive process that may lead to individual and social transformation. In this paper, beyond, a clear presentation of the concept of critical reflection, its content and its function towards the transformation of a person's frame of reference, I present the structure of an educational biography workshop that has been successfully implemented with adult educators and other teachers in Greece.