ABSTRACT This study examines how the use of narrative research methods can serve as pedagogical strategies in preservice teacher education. In this study, we see the intersection of narrative inquiry and storytelling-as-pedagogy. The two often intersect, but rarely has that intersection been examined in a systematic manner. This study examines data collected as one ESL preservice teacher and one Bilingual preservice teacher were followed from their language arts methods class into student teaching and then their first year of teaching to see how they reflected on, questioned, and learned from their experiences. Incidents where narrative inquiry served as pedagogical tools were examined. Although storytelling-as-pedagogy was not a goal in this study, we found that it was an outcome of utilizing narrative inquiry as a methodology. Narrative inquiry is widely recognized as a viable approach to conducting qualitative research. Narrative and storytelling have long been perceived as pedagogical tools. In this study, we see the intersection of narrative inquiry and storytelling-as-pedagogy. Although storytelling-as-pedagogy was not a goal, we found that it was an outcome of utilizing narrative inquiry as a methodology in this study. PURPOSE OF THE STUDY In education, stories or narratives have been used in two different ways: first, storytelling as a pedagogical strategy and second, narrative as a research method. As a pedagogical strategy, "teachers themselves [can] gain insights into their practices and set new directions for their ongoing professional development" (Wood, 2000, p. 426). While as a research method, it is important that "narrative inquiry must question the 'truth' status of teacher narratives and seek multiple critical (re)readings from a variety of analytic approaches" (Johnson, 2001, p. 199). The two often intersect, but rarely has that intersection been examined in a systematic manner. The purpose of this article is to conduct such an examinationspecifically, how the use of narrative research methods can also serve as pedagogical strategies in preservice teacher education to help teachers reflect on, question, and learn from their experiences. In the study, one ESL preservice teacher and one Bilingual preservice teacher were followed through their language arts and reading methods course, through student teaching and their first year of teaching. In this paper, we examine those segments of raw data that elicited storytelling from the participants. We address all three segments of data collection (i.e., the methods course, student teaching, and first year of teaching), but concentrate on those incidents in which participation in the narrative methods of this study also served as pedagogical practices. What follows is a brief review of the literature in two parts. First, we focus on narrative or storytelling as a pedagogical strategy, that is, who has used it as such a strategy and how, and why storytelling is an appropriate pedagogical practice in preservice teacher education. Second, we examine the field of narrative research addressing issues such as what is narrative inquiry, who conducts this research, how they conduct it, and why it is particularly suited to the study of preservice teacher education. Following the review of the literature, we provide background information about the study including who the participants were, how they were chosen, and how and when data were collected, interpreted, and presented. Then, we describe the process by which we analyzed the data looking for those incidents in which the narrative inquiry also served as a pedagogical tool. We turn now to the review of the literature. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE Storytelling as a Pedagogical Strategy A story is a beautiful means of teaching religion, values, history, traditions, and customs; a creative method of introducing characters and places; an imaginative 104 CATHY COULTER ET AL. way to instill hope and resourceful thinking. Stories help us understand who we are and show us what legacies to transmit to future generations. (Schram, 1994, p. 176
