Meet Annie: One Fourth-Grade Teacher's Story of Hope

• In Event: 53.051 - Negotiating Transnational Lives: Teaching in Global Contexts

Abstract

This qualitative life history study seeks to understand the teaching life of Annie, an early career 4th Grade teacher, by making visible how she viewed her teaching life and what influenced her and her teaching decisions. Building on the life history research model of Goodson and Sikes (2001), I used the discourse of the teacher as she describes her professional life to highlight how a year long graduate class inspired her to enact professional courage and embrace curricular decision making. With primary sources of class assignments, e-mails and a follow-up interview, data were analyzed using a multi-step, narrative-inspired framework. Findings include how Annie’s story informs teacher educators to find ways to assist teachers in enacting professional courage.

Author

• Tammi R. Davis, Missouri State University