Examining the Usefulness of I-Poems for Interpreting Interviews of Teachers' Experiences

• In Event: 16.040 - Teachers Writing: Developing Norms That Support Reflexivity and Practice

Abstract

Interpretation, analysis, and representation of findings shape understandings that emerge (Brophy & Pinnegar, 2005). Presenting findings based on a priori coding or emerging themes may hide patterns resident in teachers’ life story data (Maxwell & Miller, 2008). In contrast, I-poems allow for attention to context and relationships. For this study, faculty were interviewed after professional development to investigate their positioning and learning. Examining analysis of interviews, this presentation demonstrates the power of data-based I-poems to yield deeper understandings. They hold together relationships among themes in the life and commitment of participants. In the presentation we explore the development of I-poems, articulating movement from data through coding, to I-poems. This analytic strategy provides lives of teachers researchers with a strong analytic tool.

Authors

• Jason T. Jay, Brigham Young University

• Stefinee E. Pinnegar, Brigham Young University