(Dis)positioning Educators: Using Narrative to Rewrite Reform

• In Event: 56.049 - Preparing Candidates to Fight Back: Enacting Justice-Oriented Agency in Neoliberal Times

Abstract

1. Objectives
The aims of this study are to investigate possible ways for supporting the development of critical dispositions – approaches to teaching, learning, and leading that focus on questioning systems of power and privilege in order to move toward equity and justice.
This study explored the following research question: How can structured simulations, analyses, and reflection influence the development of critical dispositions in teacher and administrator candidates?

2. Perspective(s) or theoretical framework
Drawing on research on new critical dispositions, liberatory pedagogy, and narrative inquiry, this project uses case story analysis, critical incident reports, and comparative evaluation of structured reflection in association with the school of education’s conceptual framework to nurture and assess teacher candidates’ development of critical dispositions.

3. Methods, techniques, or modes of inquiry
In keeping with the nature of the data, the complexity of the process, and a critical theoretical approach that privileges the lived experiences of participants as well as relational nature of research the study was conducted using narrative inquiry. Intentionally attending to the three dimensions of temporality, sociality, and place (Clandinin & Huber, 2010), narrative inquiry is particularly well suited to examination of critical events (Webster & Mertova, 2007) that shape the development of professional dispositions.

4. Data sources, evidence, objects, or materials
This study involves students enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate coursework related to teacher and administrator certification. Programs were housed in a public college that is part of a state-wide university system. As part of their coursework, candidates read and analyzed a selection of case stories; developed written reports describing a critical incident that had occurred during their fieldwork; and analyzed critical incident reports in relation to the School of Education’s conceptual framework. Data collected included student-generated reflections, descriptions of critical incidents, analyses of case stories, and a comparative analysis of reflections in light of the school of education’s conceptual framework. Data were collected during the 2015-16 academic year.

5. Results and/or substantiated conclusions or warrants for arguments/point of view
Analysis of the documents indicated that structured analysis of case stories and critical incidents cultivates critical reflection. Candidate narratives indicate that application of the analytical framework to case stories and critical incidents enhances understandings of alternative perspectives and fosters explicit connections between the conceptual framework and critical incidents. Data revealed that growth in critical reflection can be documented by candidate narratives, reflections, and structured analyses.

6. Scientific or scholarly significance
It is both essential and difficult to identify, foster, and assess professional dispositions. Despite what accreditation bodies might suggest, determinations of “ideal” dispositions are laden with cultural norms. And because dispositions manifest deeply held assumptions and beliefs that are often subconscious, examination is complex. However, the development of critical dispositions supports the construction of educator identities that will question and interrupt inequities that tend to be perpetuated in our education system. This study indicates that structured reflection can foster the development of critical dispositions necessary for transformative learning (Dimitriadis, 2012; Procee, 2006; Mesirow, 2000).

Author

• Julie Gorlewski, Virginia Commonwealth University