Contends personal narratives present self to others, crossing racial, ethnic, and cultural boundaries. Examines how self- perception is communicated to familiar others, "questioning targets," and receivers. Finds self-concept is presented through personal narrative; self-presentations function as impression management; view of other is…

Investigates story as an effective presentation of experience that facilitates research, teaching, and learning in educational management. Intersperses principals' stories about real events influencing their practice with discussion on the magical art of storytelling, as distinguished from that of actors or management gurus. Storytelling records…

Three experiments with a total of 120 children between 4 and 9 years of age revealed systematic errors in the recall of deictic terms from a narrative. In some cases, the terms were inconsistent with the perspective of a protagonist. The errors occurred in all age groups and were at the same level whether the protagonist was "good" or "bad" but…

This paper affirms the power and potential in the turn to narrative for research into teachers' careers but explores a methodological limitation within this move that may have narrowed the repertoire of plot structures used to construct teachers' career stories. It considers a variant methodological orientation for the representation of career…

Herder's ideas on cultural plurality in language offer an explanation for how narrative might bridge cultural boundaries. In his "Essay on the Origin of Language", Herder focuses on language as the specifically human trait that distinguishes humanity from all other species on the one hand and the creator of human differences and diversity of…

This paper is part of a wider project that examines the discourses of motherhood and motherwork that enable and constrain individual women. It examines the influence of schools on mothers in making decisions to seek diagnosis and treatment for their children with attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here it is found that the business…

This paper explores methodological issues of recording, revisiting and portraying women's life experiences and their connections to the past, to their families and to their communities. It examines the personal histories and collective memories of a group of low-income Hispanic women, through the application of an innovative research tool that…

In this article, the authors examine "the complex processes of identity formation among Asians in America" by means of a narrative self-inquiry that explores the formation of their own multilayered identities. They do this by telling a story of becoming Asians and/or Asian Americans. They start with Heekyong Teresa Pyon's narrative of becoming an…

In this book, Maryellen Weimer provides an essential resource for anyone who is engaged in efforts to improve teaching in higher education. This comprehensive book draws on a wide array of sources to help practitioners build on the foundation laid by existing scholarly work on teaching and learning. This book reviews previously published work on…

For several years a researcher has been tracking the changing conditions of literacy learning as they have been experienced by ordinary people living through them. The purpose was to understand what sharply rising standards for literacy have meant to successive generations of Americans and how they have responded to steady changes in the meanings…

Looks at the storytelling of a retired professional soccer player. Analyses this oral narrative event, looking at the structure or formal organization of the text (the morphology) as well as the performance techniques of the telling. Suggests ways narrative is shaped by folkloristic structures that thereby attract the listener and encourage the…

Understandings of teacher experience and narrative that could lead to reconceptualizing teacher education are explored. The understanding of experience should be expanded beyond field-based and professional development experience to encompass the totality of a teacher's experience. (SLD)

The story form is a sense-making tool for educators. Writing their own stories can help teachers better understand and share their dilemmas and practice theories and explore new possibilities. The basic model involves the thematic freewrite; writing of case stories; telling, listening, and discussing of case stories; small- and whole-group…

Traces a systematic, respectful process for using narrative materials in teachers' professional development. One high school teacher wrote a series of stories about school experiences, using them to facilitate discussion, thinking, and writing about her ongoing practice. Outlines the methods of narrative inquiry used to safeguard the teachers'…

Once in a while in a long teaching career, there appears, with a crooked smile and a mischievous glint in the eye, a living reminder of why you became a teacher. These are the children who teach you more than you teach them. And they live in your stories and in your heart long after the echoes of their laughter have faded from the classroom. It is…