Negotiating Multiple I’s Through Storytelling: Use of Narrative Inquiry to Understand Perspectives of Homeless Parents on Life, Education, and Literacy

• In Event: Roundtable Session 53
  In Roundtable Session: Responsibility and Resilience: Engaging in the Work of Narrative Inquiry

Abstract

The goal of this study is to understand perspectives of homeless parents with young children on life, education, and literacy. Specifically, we looked at how homeless parents in a transient family shelter accepted, contested, and negotiated their identities across contexts through personal narratives. Data were drawn from a qualitative study over a four-month period. Narratives of homeless parents told in life history interviews and focus group interviews were auidotaped and transcribed. Findings show that the parents explored their identities as socially and ideologically constructed and used their stories to find resilience to see themselves as good parents. We discuss how narrative inquiry can be used as a way to challenge dominant social and institutional narratives imposed on homless families.

Authors

• Minjeong Kim, University of Massachusetts - Lowell

• Jihoun An, East Carolina University