A Narrative Conception of Professional Development as a Nested Community

Abstract

Thinking narratively (Clandinin, 2013), we inquire into our ongoing personal and professional development within the shaping of a nested community. By traveling to diverse worlds (Lugones, 1987), we attend to some of our stories to live by (Connelly & Clandinin, 1999) and illuminate how living and telling stories within our community shapes and reshapes who we are and are becoming as narrative inquirers. Holding tensions and possibilities close, we create(d) a space where we can be ourselves and can personally and professionally learn alongside one another. It is both a safe space of coming home and starting new journeys.

Considering Response Communities: Spaces of Appearance in Narrative Inquiry

“…We also know some of the possibilities, including gaining new insights, the joy of learning something new, of friendships, and sustained commitment to each other and the experiences of participants; response communities are spaces of ongoing negotiations (Clandinin, 2013). They are, perhaps, “both a safe space of coming home and starting new journeys” (Kubota et al, 2015, p. 161). However, we “wondered whether framing response communities as safe spaces for homecomings and new departures were a robust enough way to think about the purposes response communities fulfilled for us and could serve for others” (Caine, Lessard & Clandinin, 2018, p. 279).…”

Storytelling as Self-Study: Exploring the Bildungsroman of Teacher Educators

“…As the narratives presented in this article demonstrate, being a teacher educator is a role that is both professionally and personally significant. Hence, we believe that while the field of teacher education requires shared, professional standards (see also Ball & Forzani, 2009;Goodwin & Kosnik, 2013;Sato, 2014;Zeichner, 2007), we encourage educational researchers and teacher educators to be open to narrative inquiry as a way of cultivating their holistic sense of self as a teacher educator (Kim & Zimmerman, 2017;Kubota, Menon, Redlich-Amirav, & Saleh, 2015;Williams, Ritter, & Bullcok, 2012). We conceptualize narrative inquiry within teacher education as a vital complement to the professionalization of the field.…”