Beyond the Story 1
Beyond the Story:
Narrative Inquiry as a Research Method
Peggy Beach
EDU 516, Section 1
Professional Development Through Narrative Inquiry
Dr. Phyllis A. Blackstone
May 14, 2011
Beyond the Story:
Narrative Inquiry as a Research Method
Introduction
Stories can be powerful. Humans live and tell stories, and experience meaning through them. Creating, sharing and responding to stories is a defining characteristic of our existence. Rosen (1988) writes that humans have an “autobiographical impulse” or the desire to tell our personal stories in order to make sense of our own lives. According to Bruer (1993), the human brain “runs” on stories. Through stories, we create and recreate our identity and reality of the world around us. So an effective story matters to the person telling it as well as to the audience. Stories may effectively communicate many of life’s important lessons, or universal truths. A story can strike a chord within us, and we are somehow changed after experiencing it. A story may lead to further inquiry. Stories may cause us reflect on the past, interpret the present more fully and influence our future. Telling our own story gives us a voice. Sometimes someone else’s story can help us connect to our own lives in a way that helps us learn from mistakes and connect us to truths that are universal.Additionally, reflecting on personal experiences through stories can influence collective knowledge of a topic. .
A Definition of Narrative Inquiry
Narratives or stories have long been viewed as teaching method that speaks a universal language, is holistic, engaging and creates a sense of community. A narrative, in the context of narrative inquiry, is a story about a significant event or experience in a person’s life. Yet there are wide ranging opinions about the origin and precise definition of narative inquiry as a research method. There is some agreement on the definition provided by educational researchers, Connelly and Clandinin (2006):
People shape their daily lives by stories of who they and others are and
as they interpret their past in terms of these stories. Story, in the current
idiom, is a portal through which a person enters the world and by which
their experience of the world is interpreted and made personally
meaningful. Narrative inquiry as a methodology entails a view of the
phenomenon. To use narrative inquiry methodology is to adopt a
particular view of experience as phenomenon under study. (p. 375)
Like other forms of qualitative research, narrative inquiry focuses on life experiences, but uses the concept of “story”to describe and analyze these experiences. Schwandt (2007) provides a more concise view of its meaning. “Narrative inquiry is the interdisciplinary study of the activities involved in generalizing and analyzing stories of life experiences (e.g. life histories, narrative interviews, journals, diaries, memoirs,
autobiographies, biographies) and reporting that kind of research” ( p. 204). More simply, narrative inquiry is the process of making sense out of life as humans experience it. While stories and storytelling have permeated human existence for a long time, the practice of using stories or narratives as a methodology in research is has begun to emerge over the past several decades.
Narrative inquiry can be a valuable method of informing educators about teaching in a way that rings true, and gives teachers a voice. Ayers (1992) explains:
To say that teachers are the ones who understand, who know, and can say seems so obvious that it is beneath reporting. But in the often odd, sometimes upside-down world of social research, the obvious news must be repeated; teachers can be the richest and most useful source of knowledge about teaching; those who hope to understand teaching must turn at some point to teachers themselves. (p. v).
Narratives can also describe document teaching experiences to other professionals and a wider audience. They give teachers a professional voice, and foster professional dialogue. Isenberg (1995) states, “Sharing experiences from teacher to teacher often helps to uncover who we are and who our students are” (p. 63).Similarly, Connelly and Clandinin (1990) believe that teacher stories can illuminate the teaching-learning relationship, stating that “Life’s narratives are the context for making meaning of school situations.” (p. 2). Lastly, examining authentic teachers’ stories can contribute to an overall “wisdom of practice” (Shulman, 1992), especially when professional dilemmas arise.
The purpose of this paper is to examine the narrative inquiry approach to research, specifically in the field of education. Further, this paper draws attention to narrative inquiry as a tool for teacher reflection and growth. A review of the literature describes the history and current direction of using narrative inquiry in the field of education. A general explanation of the process of the narrative inquiry is included as a starting point to understand the basic steps that are involved. Since any research methodolgy is inherently imperfect, a discussion of the pros and cons of using a narrative inquiry approach is also discussed. In addition, a research study that utilized narrative inquiry describes the inquiry process and results of a specific study. Finally, I conclude by describing a teaching story that has informed my own teaching and impacted my beliefs as an educator.
Review of the Literature: The Use of Narrative Inquiry in Education
Narrative inquiry has a long intellectual history. Many years have passed since John Dewey (1938) focused on the importance of experience as a tool for understanding, and emphasized the connection between life experience and education. In the latter part of the twentieth century, educational researchers Connelly and Clandinin (1990) have led the way in adapting narrative for educational purposes,and describe how the characteristics of narrative make it an effective research methodology in the field of social sciences as well as education.
Perhaps because it focuses on human experience, and perhaps because it has a holistic quality, narrative has an important place in other disciplines. Narrative is a way of characterizing the phenomena of human experience and its study which is appropriate to many social science fields. (p. 2).
In recent years, narrative inquiry has been viewed as an effective method to conduct qualitative research, and its use has been growing in studies of educational experiences, but the specifics of this type of research are still developing. Connelly and Clandinin (2006) presented a framework for narrative inquiry in which they identify “commonplaces” to direct attention when conducting narrative research that involves “temporality, sociality, and place.” (p. 479) In other words, the researcher must simultaneously explore, past, present, future, as well as issues of personal and social conditions, and the place where events take place. All commonplaces need to be explored simultaneously when undertaking a narrative inquiry.
In the field of education, narrative inquiry has been used primarily in the exploration of teacher education and how it impacts their practice. The trend has been for teachers to become more reflective practioners; thus, research in the field has focused on the voice of teachers and stories from the trenches. Through this form of research, the researcher’s goal is to gain insight into and support professional by using a teacher’s own perspectives and understandings of past, present and future. Narrative inquiry can also provide an important tool for educational change, according to Larson (1997), “narrative inquiry in education examines growing problems in schools from multiple perspectives...When we understand circumstances, events, or conflicts from other people’s perspectives, we can identify and implement better strategies for addressing these problems” (p. 455).
Narrative inquiry is a methodology that is appealing to teachers and teacher education due to the attraction of stories as a means of thinking and knowing. As narrative inquiry is becoming more of a focus for conducting educational research, stories provide researchers with a valuable source of insight and practical information about education. Jalongo and Isenberg (1995) state, “Teachers’ stories, these positive and negative personal accounts of our lives in the classrooms, are central to the type of inquiry and reflection that lead to professional development and personal insight” (p. xvi). In the article “The Place of Story in the Study of Teacher and Teacher Education”, Kathy Carter (1993) describes how novice teachers develop their stories:
“Thus, by recording what events are storied by novices, especially over time, it should be possible to gain insights into what they know, how their knowledge is organized, and how their knowledge changes with additional experiences of watching and doing teaching.” (p.7).
Preservice teachers are frequent participants in narrative research. For example, Clark and Medina (2000) found that reading and writing narratives about literacy in preservice teacher education increased the participants’ knowledge of literacy, pedagogy and multiculturalism. Ben-Perez (2009) has studied stories of retired teachers, explored how teacher experience is evolves into practical wisdom, and asserts that teacher stories have implications for policy-making in education. Some of the leading educational research that utilizes narrative inquiry is work done by Clandinin and Connelly on teachers’ personal, practical knowledge.
Process of Narrative Inquiry
The very nature of narrative inquiry research makes the process difficult to describe. Clandinin and Connelly (2000) have noted that each narrative inquiry “has it own rhythms and sequences, and each narrative researcher needs to work them out for her or his own inquiry” (p. 97). Keeping this in mind, the beginning step in the process of narrative inquiry generally involves choosing a research problem to study, and identifying a specific phenomenon to explore. For example, one phenomenon to explore in education may be the characteristics of successful teachers.
According to Creswell (2008) there are is a common sequence of steps involved in conducting narrative research. After identifying the problem, the researcher carefully selects an individual or individuals from whom they can understand the phenomenon that is being studied. Next, the goal is to collect field texts from the participant through interviews, conversations, written accounts, artifacts, and recordings that will provide a story about his or her experiences. Then the researcher examines the data. The next part is to retellthe story to create a chronology of events that may include story elements of characters, setting, problem, actions, and resolution. Active collaboration between the researcher and participants is vital during the entire research process. The researcher then composes the story of the participant’s experiences, which may include an analysis of specific themes that became evident during the story. Finally, the researcher validates the accuracy and credibility of the narrative account to ensure that the participant’s story is represented as accurately as possilbe.
Strengths and Weaknesses of Narrative Inquiry
Narrative inquiry is an appealing, yet complex methodology that has its pros and cons. One of the most obvious advantages of narrative inquiry is that it can provide a holistic picture, which provides rich information about a multitude of phenomena. Clandinin and Connelly (2004) assert, “experience happens narratively, and therefore, educational experience should be studied narratively.” (p. 19). Narrative inquiry may reveal information that is not easily discerned on the surface. Lots of meaning can be found in the stories of the participants’ lives. New light can be shed on questions that have already been studied. Narratives are continually open to interpretation and can be revisited over and over. Additionally, new variables can be identified for further study through other methods.
In addition, a give-and-take relationship develops between researcher and participant in narrative research, and is useful for studying a limited number of cases in depth. Narrative research texts are also user friendly, and fill in some information that is lacking with quantitative research. It provides a glimpse of the whole picture rather than a finite set of statistical facts. Finding common threads within the data can compel us to grow in our thinking and challenge our beliefs.
No research method is without limitations, and narrative methodology is no exception. For example, when a researcher listens to a story, Connelly and Clandinin (1990) note that the researcher must be cautious about the distinction between “the events as lived and the events as told” and to avoid the illusion of “causality”. In other words, a correlation between two variables does not mean that one variable caused the other. Also, narrative inquiry is not appropriate for all studies. It is unsuitable for large numbers of participants due to the time commitment that is required.
Ethical issues may pose some difficulties in narrative inquiry research. Close collaboration between researcher and participant are a must. Yet when disengaging may prove to be difficult at the end of a research project. Also, the researcher’s personal biases and subjectivity may influence the results. Peshkin (1988) describes subjectivity as a “garment that cannot be removed”; thus researchers have to be careful about imposing meaning on a participants’ lived experience. story of friendship, so researchers Ample time is needed to collect data, and prerequisite skills are a necessity before conducting this type of research. Researchers must also give rich descriptions of studies that allow for replication. Another potential disadvantage of using narrative inquiry in studies involves a lack of definitive criteria for assessment of the research. As a result, narrative inquiry research must be approached with an understanding of its complexities.
Narrative Inquiry in a Research Study
To gain a more complete understanding of the process of narrative inquiry, it is useful to look more closely at a specific research study. In a recent study by Coulter, Michael and Poynor (2007) examine narrative research methods can also serve as pedagogical strategies in pre-service teacher education to help teachers reflect on, question, and learn from their experiences. Two teachers, one ESL preservice teacher and one Bilingual preservice teacher, were followed in this study. Data was collected from their language arts and reading methods class, through student teaching and their first year of teaching. Particular emphasis was placed on incidents that involved an intersection of narrative methods with pedagogical practices.
One of the researchers, Leslie Poynor, collected a variety of writing from both teachers, Carmen and Don. Data included weekly reflections from their college courses, a statement of philosophy about how to teach culturally and linguistically diverse children, and written observations and reflections from field placements. The researcher also interviewed both teachers about what they were learning, and their knowledge of teaching diverse children. Additionally, she took field notes on their participation and contributions in small and large groups. Later, both teachers were observed during in their student teaching and first year classrooms. After each observation, Leslie asked Carmen and Paul to describe what occurred in their classroom, how they felt about it, how it connected to what they were learning in class, and whether it was a practice they would continue in their classroom in the future. Sometimes the teacher’s line of thinking or questioning would influence the direction of the discussion.
Next Leslie restoried a narrative account of how Carmen and Paul, from their perspectives, had become first-year teachers of culturally and linguistically diverse students. This was a collaborative process that involved ongoing draft presentations, dialogue and revisions that was approved by each participant. The researcher concluded that beginning teachers need a place to share their stories with others who are in similar situations in public education. Both teachers were participants in the analysis of the raw data. Changes in understanding about teaching or beliefs about education were marked.
From this study, Coulter, Michael and Poynor (2007) concluded that beginning teachers need a place to share their stories with others who are in similar educational settings. Additionally, they asserted that the two novice teachers “developed a meta-awareness of how their pedagogical understandings had changed.” (p. 112-113)
The results of this study suggest that participating in narrative inquiry resulted in pedagogical gains for these two novice teachers. Because Carmen and Paul were encouraged to share their stories with a critical and supportive audience, they were able to examine their identities as teachers more carefully in authentic contexts beyond traditional teacher methods classes. Both teachers expressed that participation in the study provided them the opportunity to reflect on, question, and learn from their experiences.The researchers concluded that the sharing of stories can provIde an effective pedagogical strategy in teacher education, and help novice teachers gain an understanding of the dominate systems of power that are present in teaching and schooling.
One story from my own teaching experience demonstrates how teachers can learn from a reluctant student.
Don
Peggy Beach
It was mid-October, the day after mid-trimester reports went home. Soon after dismissal the whole family arrived at my classroom door, Mr. and Mrs. Xie, their oldest daughter Mira, their son Don, who was a third grade student in my class, and their daughter Nora, a kindergarten student. This was one of the few Asian-American families in our rural school. The mother, Laura, had very high expectations for all three of her children. I had gotten to know her fairly well the previous year when their oldest child, Mira, was in my class. Laura had come to the United States about six years before from China to join her husband and other family members already here in Maine. She was proud that she had learned English, though still lacked a confidence in some situations. She had explained that the children helped her with reading and deciphering notices from school.