The Possibilities and Perils of Narrative Inquiry in Refugee Education Research

• In Event: The turn towards narrative methodologies in comparative and international education

Proposal

This paper draws on my experiences conducting narrative research with Syrian refugee students and Jordanian students in a non-formal education program in Amman, Jordan from 2016 to 2017. I begin by examining the potential benefits of using narrative methodologies in researching refugee education, including: equalizing power dynamics (Hopkins, 2009); highlighting and thus humanizing refugee stories (Eastmond, 2007)); working to disrupt dominant social and political discourses (Denzin, 2008); and shedding light on the ways that educational policies function in practice. I then highlight some of the challenges of utilizing narrative inquiry that can arise in the research and writing process. Specifically, I faced several challenges of access and ethics that limited my ability to conduct life history interviews. The context of the Middle East, where people are accustomed to surveillance and policing (Clark, 2006) combined with the heightened political nature of refugee situations (Norman, 2009), contributed to a general suspicion and reluctance to engage in extensive life-history interviews. Additionally, while narrative methodologies seek to equalize power dynamics between researcher and research participant, this felt close to impossible when working with youth in a highly authoritarian context. Given these and other challenges, my experience conducting fieldwork call into question the ability to use narrative research in contexts of conflict and crisis. I conclude the paper with reflections on my fieldwork and my efforts to employ narrative methodologies to conduct refugee education research. Although I was limited in my ability to conduct life history interviews as intended, I carried the underlying theories of collaboration and the co-construction of knowledge into my interviews as best as possible. Moreover, I reflect on my use of narrative analysis and writing to understand and share the stories I heard from my research participants.

Author

• Elisheva Cohen, University of Minnesota