Stories Told and Lessons Learned: Reflections on a Year of Narrative Research

John Dewey argued that education and experience are inextricably linked. Clandinin and Connelly define narrative inquiry as “trying to make sense of life as lived.” In this presentation I will discuss how I re-discovered and applied these concepts through five narrative studies in which I explored variously the lived experiences of novice teachers, school leaders, and graphic artists. I will share insights gleaned from techniques I followed, mistakes I made, and lessons I learned. Some studies were mine alone, and others were team efforts. I will not focus on the results of the studies, but rather on the processes I followed to learn from study participants and the evolution of my knowledge and skills. I will describe the knowledge gained from hearing people’s life stories and share how the studies individually and collectively shaped my professional education