Through a phenomenological lens of portraiture methodology, this article explores the career experiences of a veteran acting teacher who, at the age of 85 years, remains highly passionate and dedicated to his work with younger aspiring actors. The article reveals how for this veteran teacher, his strong teacher identity characterised by a quest…

Adult Education has many values, including experiences and co-operation among people, and the fact that adult education is full of stories from adult educators, which can help to understand trends in the past and developments in the present. Established in 1991 as part of a more general regional cooperation among five Nordic and three Baltic…

This graphic memoir of teaching in urban America is a brilliant reimagining of the classic text by Gregory Michie, "Holler If You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher and His Students." Michie is joined by illustrator Ryan Alexander-Tanner and 10 artists--most of them young people of color--to bring a fresh, vibrant energy to the original…

This paper examines the narratives/oral histories of three Latina teachers to help us understand how they negotiated and navigated their identity formation. We explore how they consciously constructed (Lee, 2013, p. 7) their professional identities, which are inextricably linked to their personal identities and their life stories or the "set…

Stereotypical notions of who experiences homelessness frame how educational institutions approach policy and program development. This life history of a teacher challenges assumptions by providing an in-depth look at a mother's struggle to find stability.

In this article, we discuss three cross-cultural memoirs used in three different university courses that introduced students to the complex identities that form both inside and outside of language classrooms. In arguing for the value of using such memoirs as content in university courses, we provide a detailed thematic analysis of Peter Hessler's…

This article focuses on the life history of a university academic, and the ways in which he learned in different communities of practice during his career. This account raises questions about the applicability of situated learning theory to a knowledge-based organisation, and argues that both the external context and the individuals within the…

The percentage of African American educators in the U.S. has declined over the past 65 years while the public school populations have become more diverse. Reasons for this decline are posited from a review of the literature, including "Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Kansas," and the expanded opportunities for African Americans…

Applying culturally relevant and social justice-oriented notions of teaching and learning and a critical race theory (CRT) analysis of teacher preparation in the United States, this study examines the oral life histories of two Black male teachers recognized for their successful teaching of Black students. These histories provide us with a venue…

History is an eminently human quest to recover human experiences and stories. Far from theoretical, the history of education can be seen as vital to the study and practice of teaching if anchored in the cultures and contexts of stories. In university Faculties of Education, the reading of stories and memoirs can lead to open-ended discussion in…

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…

The life history method, which achieved a prominent position in the Chicago tradition of sociological research in the early 1920s, has been widely adopted for educational inquiries since the 1980s. The power of the life history method in illuminating subjective teacher experiences in social historical contexts has made it "probably the only…

This autobiographical paper describes the teaching of an adjunct faculty member at Washington University in Saint Louis, Missouri, and the doctoral and postdoctoral students he taught. The paper discusses the author's study of the area of biography and autobiography; the use of ethnography, history, and biography in qualitative research; the…

This book describes the teaching experiences of Stella Gipson Polk, who taught in one-room schools in rural Texas. She was 16 at the time she took her first teaching job in 1918. After high school graduation, she had intended to enter a 4-year college or university. However, World War I left numerous schools without teachers as many were called…

An emeritus education professor ponders his career and passes on some advice to the younger generation. He urges teachers to acquire a broad education, obtain a solid professional education, discover who they are, avoid simplification, and try to make a difference. Teachers should have more say in their affairs, stand up for appropriate curricula,…