At the Intersections of Narrative Inquiry and Professional Education (Invited)

In this paper, we explore the intersections of narrative inquiry and professional education by making visible four common tensions we experience across the disciplines of education and nursing. The tensions are woven, inseparable, and deeply embedded in complex landscapes of self, others, time, and institutional structures. We highlight the elements of narrative inquiry that reverberate into the ways we understand professional education. In this way, we explore pedagogical spaces shaped by world travelling, calling forth experience, and the significance of relationships as we think with experiences lived, told, retold, and relived

Questioning the Research on Early Career Teacher Attrition and Retention

In this paper, we consider scholarly work on early career teacher attrition, and retention, from 1999 to 2010. Much of the literature has framed attrition as either a problem associated with individual factors (e.g., burnout), or a problem associated with contextual factors (e.g., support and salary). Some recent conceptualizations consider early career teacher attrition as an identity- making process that involves a complex negotiation between individual and contextual factors. On the basis of our review, we suggest the need to shift the conversation from one focused only on retaining teachers, toward a conversation about sustaining teachers. This shift offers the possibility of new insights about teacher education and about the kinds of spaces needed on school landscapes to sustain and retain beginning teachers.Cet article porte sur les travaux académiques évoquant l'attrition et la rétention des enseignants en début de carrière entre 1999 et 2010. Une part importante de la littérature présente l'attrition comme un problème associé à des facteurs individuels (par ex. épuisement professionnel) ou bien à des facteurs contextuels (par ex. appui et salaire). Selon certaines conceptualisations récentes, l'attrition d'enseignants en début de carrière serait un processus de formation identitaire impliquant des négociations complexes entre l'individu et des facteurs contextuels. À partir de notre analyse, nous évoquons le besoin de s'éloigner des conversations portant exclusivement sur le besoin de retenir les enseignants pour discuter plutôt de soutien aux enseignants. D'un tel changement peuvent découler de nouvelles idées sur la formation des enseignants et le type de milieux scolaires nécessaires pour appuyer et retenir les enseignants en début de carrière

Using parent metaphors for learning about the neonatal care experience: an interpretive perspective

© 2019 The Author(s). The final, definitive version of this paper has been published in Journal of Child Health Care by Sage Publications Ltd. All rights reserved. It is available at: https://doi.org/10.1177/1367493519875853.This study focuses on how metaphors are used by parents who have had a premature baby to describe their neonatal care experience and how these can contribute to empathic learning of health professionals. In health, metaphors are commonly used to communicate and explain difficult topics. When patients tell their story, metaphor can be a means of expression from which we can learn about their experience of illness or hospitalisation. Limited research exits on how metaphor can improve our understanding of parent’s emotional experience in neonatal care and subsequently inform education in this field. Employing narrative inquiry within an interpretive, constructivist paradigm, 20 narrative interviews with 23 parents of premature babies were analysed using a process of metaphor identification. Findings revealed common metaphors used to describe experience. Metaphor clusters used by parents in order of frequency were journeying, altered reality, darkness, breaking, connections, fighting, salvation and being on the edge. Parents widely used compelling and emotive metaphors to describe and express both difficult and challenging times as well as progression forward. Metaphors serve as a powerful way for health professionals to learn about the emotional experiences of parents and potentially enhance their empathic understanding.Peer reviewe

Adapting to the digital age: a narrative approach

The article adopts a narrative inquiry approach to foreground informal learning and exposes a collection of stories from tutors about how they adapted comfortably to the digital age. We were concerned that despite substantial evidence that bringing about changes in pedagogic practices can be difficult, there is a gap in convincing approaches to help in this respect. In this context, this project takes a “bottom-up” approach and synthesises several life-stories into a single persuasive narrative to support the process of adapting to digital change. The project foregrounds the small, every-day motivating moments, cultural features and environmental factors in people's diverse lives which may have contributed to their positive dispositions towards change in relation to technology enhanced learning. We expect that such narrative approaches could serve to support colleagues in other institutions to warm up to ever-changing technological advances

Developing Preservice Elementary Teachers' Pedagogical Design Capacity for Reform‐Based Curriculum Design

Teachers use curriculum materials as a guide in their planning, critiquing and adapting them to address reform‐based goals and practices and specific contextual needs. To become well‐started beginners in planning lessons, novice teachers need opportunities to develop their pedagogical design capacity—that is, their ability to use personal and curricular resources in designing instruction for students. This study investigated the use of reform‐based criteria in supporting 24 preservice teachers enrolled in an elementary science methods course. In learning about and applying criteria, the preservice teachers developed aspects of their pedagogical design capacity by expanding their analysis ideas and refining their knowledge and beliefs about curriculum design. However, many struggled with analyzing lesson plans in a reform‐oriented way during student teaching. This occurred, in part, because the preservice teachers navigated different settings that conveyed conflicting ideas about the reasons why teachers make modifications. The methods course emphasized the importance of modifying materials to promote reform‐based science teaching, but few preservice teachers observed their mentor teachers make adaptations for this reason. These findings have important implications for theoretical models on curriculum materials use and the design of science teacher education.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/91354/1/j.1467-873X.2012.00599.x.pd

Landmarks in the professional and academic development of mid-career teacher educators

This paper focuses on the professional and academic development of mid-career teacher educators from two universities in England. The objectives of the study were to analyse and compare the career experiences of teacher educators; in particular, to identify stages of development, landmark events and contextual factors affecting professional learning and academic identities. In-depth biographical interviews were carried out with 12 teacher educators, together with living graphs of their career paths. Clear landmarks were identified in both contexts, with development in teaching seen as largely positive, while research development was much more varied. Teacher educators who were further on in their careers saw research development as transformative personally as well as academically. In analysing the findings within a sociocultural learning framework, the authors draw in particular on Swennen et al.’s model of teacher educators’ sub-identities, Akerlind’s categorisation of an academic identity and Eraut’s contextual and learning factors

Investigating student teachers’ presentations of literacy and literacy pedagogy in a complex context

The field of literacy and primary literacy education is patterned by multiple discourses and this raises challenges for those educating the next generation of primary literacy teachers. In England, the last 15 years have seen considerable levels of prescription in the primary literacy curriculum and compliance by the school and teacher education sectors has been enforced through demanding accountability regimes. In this paper, the authors draw on findings of a small-scale interview study to consider how understandings of literacies associated with different contexts may or may not inflect student teachers’ orientations towards literacy provision in school. The authors explore how five student teachers presented their experiences of literacy within and beyond the classroom and how they seemed to position themselves in relation to literacy pedagogy. The authors focus particularly on continuities and discontinuities between literacies in the student teachers’ personal and professional lives, and on tensions they identified between the teachers they felt they wanted to, and were expected to, become. Reflecting on this work, the authors consider how they can best equip pre-service primary and early years teachers to develop as critical reflective literacy practitioners in the current context

Music and drama in primary schools in the Madeira Island - Narratives of ownership and leadership

Este artigo foi uma das publicações resultantes do projeto financiado pela FCT "Música e Drama no 1º ciclo do Ensino básico – o caso da Região Autónoma da Madeira" (PTDC/CED/72112/2006).A three-year-case study funded by the Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) from the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education was designed to study a 30-year project of music and drama in primary schools in Madeira. This article reports on the narratives of the three main figures in the project as they elaborate on its construction according to the following themes: innovation, philosophies of music education and teacher education. Through the lens of a narrative inquiry, the discourses produced are analysed, taking into account the emerging concepts of ownership and leadership.

Understanding parents’ emotional experiences for neonatal education:A narrative, interpretive approach

Aims and objectives: To explore the emotional experiences of parents who have had premature babies to inform and educate neonatal nurses and health professionals in this field. Background: Parents find the neonatal unit a daunting and unfamiliar place leading to anxiety, uncertainty and fear about the future of their baby. Parents have significant emotional needs in relation to assisting them to cope with their neonatal experience. In line with a family-centred approach to neonatal education, it is essential to teach health professionals about the emotional impact of neonatal care based on an appreciation of the parent experience. Design: A narrative-based, interpretive approach was undertaken in line with constructivist learning theory. Methods: Twenty narrative interviews took place, with a total of 23 parents of premature babies. Following core story creation to create coherent stories from the raw transcripts, thematic analysis of the narrative constructs using the principles of Braun and Clarke's, International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-Being, 2014, 9, 1, framework was undertaken. The study methods were compliant with the consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative research (COREQ). Findings: Thematic analysis revealed key themes relating to the following: parents’ emotions through the whole neonatal experience, feelings towards the baby, the environment, the staff and the transitions through the different phases of neonatal care. Both negative and positive experiences were reported. Conclusion: Understanding the emotional experience from the parent's perspective, following birth of their premature baby, informs empathic, family-centred teaching and learning within the neonatal education arena. Relevance to clinical practice: Students and health professionals alike can learn what is important in the delivery of care that addresses the emotional needs of parents and families. Educators can use narratives and key messages from parents, both negative and positive, to teach family-centred principles to nurses and health professionals as a core component of a narrative curricula and potentially to enhance empathy