Narrative Inquiries Into Being and Becoming Educators

Historical and Contemporary Perspectives

Cheryl J. Craig, Michele Norton Silk, Salma Ali

• Publisher: Emerald Publishing Limited
• Year: 2026
• Print ISBN:
  9781805926245
  9781805926221
• eBook ISBN:
  9781805926214
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Teaching Methods

Narrative Inquiries Into Being and Becoming Educators: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives provides stories and narratives of the struggle and strengths of the teachers within the educational landscape. Keeping the temporal perspective wide, the chapters are situated across history, from 1700 to the present and through a variety of perspectives or lenses. This approach aligns with the three dimensions of narrative inquiry: the personal and social (interaction); the past, present, and future (continuity); and place or situation. Each chapter takes a unique positioning across time and situation, illuminating the personal and social interactions while using narratives as data to inquire into "becoming" a teacher. Most importantly, this book unpacks diverse experiences of teachers from the past and present, and it is critically important to understanding the emergence of teachers' identities or "stories to live by" expressed in narrative terms. Each of the featured authors evidenced this through serial interpretation, and broadening and burrowing to construct meaning.

Teacher education is inextricably linked to teachers' lives, and narrative inquiry studies lives in motion. Therefore, each of these chapters employs narrative inquiry as the research method or a way of thinking to explore how educators' unique teaching experience and perspective impacted the educational landscape. The book looks at the art and science of "becoming" a teacher, not just from the temporal perspective of pre-service education, but from a holistic view of becoming throughout the storied life of a teacher. The contributors to this book understand that narrative inquiry is a rich and complex method that allows them to explore the meanings that participants derived from their experiences, and to catch the voices that may have otherwise remained silent.

This book acts as a compass for navigating the seas of narrative inquiry approaches and makes important knowledge contributions to the local, national, and international research base on teaching and teacher education.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Narrative Inquiries into Being and Becoming Educators
• Series Editor
• Narrative Inquiries into Being and Becoming Educators: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives
• Copyright
• CONTENTS
• ABOUT THE EDITORS
• ABOUT THE CONTRIBUTORS
• FOREWORD
• SERIES FOREWORD
• 1 - The Liminal Space of Self-Study in Narrative Inquiry
• 2 - The Accidental Mentor
• 3 - The Unfolding Transdisciplinary Intersection Between Narrative, Experience, and Design-Based Education
• 4 - Tiger Teachers: A Parallel Reflection on the Impact of Khan Academy on 21st Century Education
• 5 - The Chicago Connection: Dewey, Addams, Schwab, and Jackson
• 6 - Is Maria Montessori’s Philosophy Still Relevant for the 21st Century
• 7 - Stories of Living and Stories of Leaving: A Latinx Autobiographical Narrative Inquiry
• 8 - History of Project-Based Learning: Benefits and Obstacles With Preservice Teachers
• 9 - One from Eleven Equals Ten, or Does It A Mathematics Teacher’s Reading Journey
• 10 - Becoming Unbecoming: Toward a Gay Voice and a Queer Educator Praxis Through a Gay Educator’s K-12 Reflections
• 11 - The Cotyledon State of Teacher Identity: A Narrative of ONE Pre-service TEACHER of Color
• 12 - The Narratives of Teacher Educators’ Personal Practical Knowledge of Technology Integration
• 13 - “Play Your Part”: Driving Through Time Acknowledging the Importance of Black Music Educators
• 14 - A Historical Review of Social Studies Education: The Push for Nationalism to the Era of Standardization and Accountability
• Afterword