In her reflections on the narrative research approach, the author starts by placing narrative research within the framework of sociocultural theory, where the challenge for the researcher is to examine and understand how human actions are related to the social context in which they occur and how and where they occur through growth. The author argues that the narrative as a unit of analysis provides the means for doing this. She then presents some of the basic premises of narrative research before she reflects on the process of narrative inquiry and addresses the issue of the “true” narrative. Throughout the article, the author refers to educational research and in the concluding section argues that the results of narrative research can be used as thought-provoking tools within the field of teacher education.
This article presents a Norwegian primary school teacher facing the challenge of realising the curriculum's vision of inclusive education. Ann teaches a third-grade class with 22 pupils among which are pupils with special needs. Two of them are John and Paul. The article focuses on how the teacher deals with these two boys as she, at the same time, approaches the class as a whole. The analysis shows that the teacher's practice can be clustered into four themes. The themes are analysed in light of relevant theoretical concepts situated within the framework of socio-cultural theory. It appears that the themes have some common characteristic traits and dilemmas that Ann encounters in her daunting work of realising inclusive education.
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