The textbook remains a central resource for teaching and learning mathematics in many secondary classrooms, however, its effectiveness is open to question. In this article, the author argues three things: (1) that there can be a substantial disjunction between the assumptions and content of mathematics textbooks and the knowledge and experiences…

The author, a teacher at Roosevelt Junior High/Middle School in Eugene, Oregon, has created and taught a variety of elective classes. Each incorporated reading, writing skills, oral presentations, research reports, and specific educational goals. Of these classes, Storytelling became his favorite, because those who became tellers learn skills they…

At Brooklyn College (New York), students' autobiographical narratives are used to help other students examine the structure of the world in which they grew up and to better understand the tension between the individual and society. In this way, sociology becomes more real and personal. (MSE)

In this paper, I share stories that provide sites of inquiry for the (re)interpretation of my own educative experience. Crossing time, I (re)visit and (re)construct seminal events in my life using knowledge gleaned in the intervening years to come to see how these life stories inform and guide me in the present. I use my own stories to enhance my…

The process of a successful undergraduate student-faculty research collaboration involving a student with documented learning disabilities is detailed. As the student developed research skills, she also learned how to develop her own learning strategies. At the same time, the faculty member learned strategies adaptable to all student-faculty…

Examines overt and hidden aspects of experiences as Latina/o doctoral students. Phase one of the study entailed constructing autoethnographic narratives that described doctoral experiences. Phase two involved using the narratives to stimulate a dialogue about experiences in the academy. The findings describe the critical consciousness achieved.…

Describes a course organized in terms of an "exploration of narrative," in which students read and write stories grounded in their own and other students' lives and concerns. Asserts that students' stories are an avenue for the students' various home communities to intersect with the culture of schools. (MM)

A Charleston (West Virginia) native recounts her sixth grade experiences when her elementary school was closed and the (mostly poor) children were sent to a larger middle-class school. Obvious class distinctions and instances of social discrimination led her to attend college and become a teacher. (SV)

Tim O'Keefe, Rise Reinier and Kevin Gallagher, Bruce Morgan, Julia Lopez-Robertson, Donna Santman, JoAnn Wong-Kam, Sharon Hill, and Linda Christensen provide short essays describing their personal visions of possibility about literacy and how they maintain that passion and vision. Across a range of contexts, they reflect on the ways in which their…

A case study using appreciate inquiry identified and described the experiences of five educational administration doctoral students representing three universities regarding their doctoral program studies and dissertation process. Data were collected using reflective narratives and the Left Hand Right Hand Column Case Method. Data revealed (a) the…

This paper describes and explains how journal writing may be used as a qualitative research technique in long-term qualitative studies. Journal writing has a long and reliable history in the arts and humanities, and it provides qualitative researchers with a powerful heuristic tool. The notion of a comprehensive reflective journal to address the…

A young college French professor has won praise for her book about the experience of learning the language. She explores her childhood, education, and socialization as a young adult to tell why and how French became important to her. (MSE)

A former intern at Merrowvista Education Center reflects on her experiences learning to facilitate adventure programs, and discusses the value of interning at a residential center, changes in her attitudes as her skills developed, and the importance of reflection for staff as well as participants. (SV)

After being expelled from her mainstream girls' school, Bilikus, whose parents are Turkish and African, spent a year at Daniel House Pupil Referral Unit (PRU), a small alternative high school. At the end of her year there, she took seven GCSEs, which are intensive exams taken at the end of compulsory schooling and a prerequisite for college.…

Autobiography is now debated as ultimately problematic, a charge that may impede the growth of a growing cultural pedagogy. As a tool in the classroom, it is under siege for many reasons: because it does not teach "real-world" skills; because in asking students to deal with painful memories, it may impede intellectual and emotional growth; and…