In the first Chan article Chan writes:
These cultural histories are never merely formal categories. Knowing that a child is ‘first-generation mainland Chinese’ is insufficient for curriculum planning and for research. It is necessary to understand in some depth the particular narrative histories of each child in order to identify both his or her cultural group and his or her specific history.
I think that I understand the narrative inquiry approach, but I have questions. Do we have the time in schools to really embrace this approach? Also is the average teacher well-trained enough in the process of inquiry in general to facilitate this?
I believe that short of this laudable goal perhaps striving for multicultural competence may be the best thing to do. If we spend time on teacher-preparation programs examining development theory as it relates to gender, socio-economic status, ability differences, ethnic background, sexuality and religious diversity we will accomplish several things. First of all, teachers will get a cursory understanding of the largest several groups in each of these categories and challenges they generally face. Secondly through this study teachers would likely develop an appreciation for tentative assumptions. If a teacher studies African-American identity theory and then studies lesbian identity theory and has read about the impact of socio-economic status on students, then s/he may feel equipped to teach an African-American lesbian from an upper-class socio-economic background. Where ‘tentative assumptions’ come into play is that the teacher may not realize to what degree these factors have inter-mingled in her or his student’s development, and also what other unknown factors may have played a role. By becoming educated on different developmental trajectories, and then realizing their limitations, I feel educators can begin humble deduction. Use the literature to which s/he has been exposed to enter a loose or tentative frame of the student and approach with the humility of one who knows that we are all different. After all, developmental theorists who go about the business of studying the lesbian experience or the African-American experience or any other experience are typically not trying to put people in boxes, rather they are trying to familiarize practitioners with trends. These theories don’t provide an address, just a zip code.
Alan
Comments (1)
Alan, I enjoyed reading your entire reflection on the CHAN articles.
However, I would like to focus my comments on the two questions, at the beginning of your reflection. You asked, "Do we have the time in schools to really embrace this approach (narrative inquiry)? Also, is the average teacher well-trained enough in the process of inquiry in general to facilitate this?"
Firstly, I think that it is important to note that knowledge about student experiences can make a huge impact on the way teachers conduct their classes and the decisions they make about curriculum. Having worked in public education, I had to make an attempt, sometimes beyond my job description, in order to find out more about my student's personal, social, and historical narratives. Why? Because I knew if the student knew I cared, then I knew that student would care about what I was teaching. I am not saying that home -visits and phone calls at home solved all our problems. What I am saying, however, is that these methods of outreach allowed me to connect to the world in which my student’s live. No one told me to do this. I was not coerced, or neither was I given a pay increase. I made the extra effort because I, simply, cared; and it is a good thing that no one has to be taught to do such a simple act.
Johnny Smith
Cohort 16
Posted by Johnny Smith | June 16, 2009 5:49 PM
Posted on June 16, 2009 17:49