The present article draws from the biographical narratives of three South African high school female principals which are part of a larger research study in which 26 aspiring and practicing women school leaders were interviewed. Narratives were constructed from in-depth interviews with each participant and analyzed for themes that provided…

In this article, the author recalls the life of playwright, artist, and educator Sterling Houston. Sterling was a teaching artist in a much more global sense. He taught everyone who encountered him how to connect across difference--across race, class, ideology, age, gender, and sexual orientation. He had a talent for gently pushing aside the fears…

Kate Brock's diary provides insight into the daily life of a one-room rural school teacher from Delaware County, New York, during the years 1902-1906. Through her diary she gives a candid narrative of her life as teacher and a member of a rural community. From the 3 1/2 years of almost daily entries, it is possible to identify a number of topics…

This article explores the implications for teacher education and continuous professional development (CPD) of enquiry-based learning, by drawing specifically on data collected during a four-year curriculum development and research project, Enquiring Minds (2005-9). Within the partnership approach to curriculum design endorsed by the project,…

This article attempts to hold thought open in a textual space that often forecloses thought. The authors present arguments but work them through poetry, memoir, pictures, and exposition. They frame this work in particular as an improvisation around--and intervention into--more familiar practices of collective biography, narrative, and art…

Drawing from life history interviews with Coreen Gladue--a Cree/Metis woman resident of British Columbia, Canada--this article uses poetic representation and visual images to tell stories about Coreen's sense of self and identity, family relations, education, and interpretation of the meanings of Canada's "Indian Act". Poems and…

Teacher motivation has been found to be a critical predictor of teachers' work commitment, identity and performance, yet has received insufficient attention in educational policymaking. In this article the reasons for people becoming teachers of English as a foreign language in China, reflect both social and psychological factors. This…

This paper explores the auto/biographicity of ethnographic research, describing the way in which our research pursuits can be seen as the replaying of past agendas. It looks specifically at the auto/biographic interview as part of the ethnographic data collected, positing it as the site of co-construction of new memory, and the re-enactment of…

Drawing on life history data generated from interviews with young athletes at an English university, this paper explores the narrative maps provided to them by older team members and the ways in which these influence perceptions of self-ageing. Three possible selves associated with mid-life emerged from the analysis for detailed focus. These are…

Extending the study of autobiographical narratives to entire life narratives, we tested the emergence of globally coherent life narratives in adolescence, as hypothesized by McAdams (1985). Participants were 102 children and young adults (ages 8, 12, 16, and 20 years) who narrated their lives twice. Between narrations, half of each age group…

This article presents the how the author came about writing nonfiction novels. Here, he described some of his works and how he wanted to do it following his own compass, not handcuffed to the realities of an actual person. He discovered that book making was like pistachio nuts: one leaves you yearning for more.

In this article, the author discusses how narratives, which are part of the common currency of the day, have dramatically changed over the years. Grand narratives, which grew exponentially in the mid-nineteenth century, have now been replaced by two different narratives: life narratives and small-scale narratives. He also discusses how small…

This self-reflexive personal narrative charts the autoethnographic journey of an adult educator, exploring her own practices, values and beliefs about teaching. Drawing upon postmodern scholarship in reflexive literary methodologies, the author uses personal memoirs as a research text for engaging in a process of interpretation and…

Maternal elaboration and autonomy support during reminiscing facilitate middle-class children's autobiographical narrative skills. In this study, low-income Hispanic, White, and Black mothers' elaboration and autonomy support in reminiscing were examined in relation to children's joint and independent autobiographical narratives and engagement.…

Daily life with Trina Schart Hyman is described by her daughter. (EL)