"For Years I Had Taught This Poem": How Narrative Retellings Impacted One Teacher's Pedagogy

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 9
  In Roundtable Session: Experience and Story: Becoming a Teacher

Abstract

This case study explores the importance of personal experience and reflection through an examination of one high school ELA teacher’s in-class narrative retellings and the impact that they had upon her future pedagogical decisions. Looking at how teachers make sense of their past experiences through story can help us to understand the role that experience plays in the development of their teacher selves and the influence it has on the decisions they make. This study highlights the importance of teachers’ personal narratives and reflection as meaning-making tools during classroom instruction. Exploring how teachers make sense of their own learning experiences can help us understand how they utilize that learning to build upon students’ existing knowledge and transform pedagogy.

Author

• Nichole Barrett, University at Buffalo - SUNY