The edge of messy: interplays of daily storytelling and grand narratives in teacher learning

Abstract

This paper examines the interplay of daily storytelling and societal narratives of teaching in one student teacher’s experience. Drawing on narrative and post-structural theories, I conducted a case study using narrative inquiry and ethnographic methods to examine the moment-to-moment storytelling of one student teacher across a range of teaching and learning contexts. Using student teacher blogs about pivotal events as a main source of data, findings demonstrate that initial story themes cohered around narratives of experimentation and adaptation as central to effective teaching, but were also complicated by pervasive societal storylines about traditional teacher authority. Implications for teacher educators are discussed.

Key words:

• Narrative
• teacher education
• storytelling
• student teaching