Power of using narrative inquiry in preserivce teacher education

This is a study by a teacher educator examining how narratives can be used to promote student teachers’ learning. Based on Connelly & Clandinin’s (1988) narrative perspective, teacher knowledge can be understood by storytelling. Through the group presentation, peers’ response and coursework, student teachers are guided in their journey to making inquiries into their past experiences. They are engaged in telling stories related to their development from childhood. Such experiences give meaning to how developmental changes occur, and serve to answer the questions such as who they are and why they are today. Since narrative is an effective way of organizing our experience of time, narrative inquiry is a powerful way to allow student teachers to reflect on their own practices and develop their own practical knowledge.