Transformative education for culturally diverse learners through narrative and ethnography

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Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1413–1425

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Transformative education for culturally diverse learners throughnarrative and ethnography

Aileen Halea,�, Jennifer Snow-Geronob,1, Fernanda Moralesa

aDepartment of Bilingual Education and English as a Second Language, Boise State University, Boise, ID 83702, USAbDepartment of Curriculum and Instruction, Boise State University, Boise, ID, USA

Received 17 July 2006; received in revised form 8 November 2007; accepted 21 November 2007

Abstract

This article presents a study of the effects of creating a bridge between the narrative and ethnographic methods and

writing processes as a means to more effectively educate teachers of culturally diverse learners. Ten teacher participants

from a Masters of Education (M.Ed.) degree program in Bilingual Education at a university in the northwestern United

States took a sequence of courses in which instructor-researchers taught them narrative and ethnographic pedagogy,

theory, and methodology. Through qualitative methods, instructor-researchers analyzed teacher participants’ personal

narratives and ethnographic case studies for generative themes. In discovering the commonalities of themes between these

two methods of inquiry, the research reveals the value and transformative nature of building a bridge between narrative

and ethnographic methods. The following overlapping generative themes were voiced by teacher participants:

(1) awareness of self and others; (2) consciousness of educational issues and their implications; (3) transformative action

and advocacy. These themes are substantiated with related literature and further elucidated upon in the paper.

r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Teacher preparation; Bilingual; Qualitative research; Ethnography; Narrative

1. Introduction

The purpose of this manuscript is to encouragegreater use of narrative and ethnographic writing inteacher education as a means of creating moreculturally informed and transformative educators.The noteworthy positive effects for teachers em-ploying narrative (Atkinson, 2005; Clandinin &Connelly, 2000; Nieto, 2003) and ethnographic

ee front matter r 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

te.2007.11.013

ing author. Tel.: +1208 426 1136.

esses: [email protected] (A. Hale),

[email protected] (F. Morales).

426 2260.

methods (Atkinson, Coffey, Delamont, Lofland, &Lofland, 2001; McCaleb, 1994; Valdes, 1996) withtheir students have been well documented. Thatwhich lacks exploration and documentation is theintentional creation of a bridge between the twopotentially empowering methods of inquiry.

Bridge has been commonly defined as a connect-ing, transitional, or intermediate route or phasebetween two adjacent elements, activities, condi-tions, or the like; a passage in a literary work or ascene in a play serving as a movement between twoother passages or scenes of greater importance(http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/bridge). Inthis context we consider the research question

.

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ARTICLE IN PRESSA. Hale et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1413–14251414

examining the effects of bridging the narrative andethnographic writing processes as a means forpreparing teachers in the United States to moreeffectively educate culturally diverse learners.

In order to determine the value of creating thisbridge, this manuscript first highlights the indivi-dual processes of teaching narrative and ethno-graphic methods. It then investigates teacher

participants’ personal narratives and ethnographic

case studies in search of overlapping generative

themes. For it is through the discovery of self, innarrative writing, that possibilities for the discoveryof others, in ethnographic writing, are enhanced(Behar, 1993). It is first through the process ofwriting one’s own narratives that teachers discoverhow their multiple identities transcend to theirclassroom teaching/pedagogy. This greater self-awareness opens teachers to a new desire ofknowing and understanding others. Thus, whenintroduced to the ethnographic writing process,teachers are empowered with a discovery toolthat serves as a means to gain deeper insights intothe lives of their students and their students’communities.

As three professors, two in the Bilingual Educa-tion Department and one in Curriculum, Instruc-tion, and Foundational Studies at Boise StateUniversity in the United States, noted the criticalneed for helping diverse/English language learnerssucceed, we collaboratively considered how best toenable their success. Our department(s) seeks toeducate our student-teachers in the most relevantpedagogies, theories, and methodologies for work-ing with English language learners. Part of thismission includes educating our student-teachers onissues of cultural sensitivity and understanding, sothey can most effectively work with culturallydiverse learners. Although this is an overriding goalof the program, its actualization transpires more forsome students than others, depending on theprofessors and/or courses they enroll in and theirindividual degree of application of theory. That is tosay, some students seriously take up their newinsights into critical pedagogy (Giroux, 1983) andsome students demonstrate understanding of thework required for these courses but do notnecessarily take this new knowledge into theirclassrooms.

Through a sequence of courses, we educatedteacher-participants, first in the narrative writingand secondly in the ethnographic writing processes.In two courses, teachers were required to write their

own narratives or ethnographic case studies. Asresearchers and educators, our goal was to discoverthe impact of narrative as an entryway intoethnography, as well as the overall impact oflearning both of these methods for working withculturally and ethnically diverse learners.

This paper describes the process of bridging thetwo methodologies—narrative and ethnography—to enhance graduate students’ understanding andability to become transformative educators throughemploying empowering methods to reach theirdiverse population of learners. In the followingsections, we briefly explain the theoretical back-grounds of narrative and ethnography. Subse-quently, we explain the importance of using thetwo methods together and the value of narrative as

a precursor to ethnography. The methodology of thestudy is described, followed by a qualitative analysisof generative themes derived from the data. Finally,we discuss implications of the study and offersuggestions for future practice and research in thefields.

2. Methodology

2.1. Participants

Over the course of 2 years, seven graduatestudents from Boise State University in Idaho,USA, were elected to participate in this study. These‘teacher-participants’ were enrolled in a 2-yearMasters of Education in Bilingual Educationprogram and were full-time teachers with classesranging from pre-kindergarten to adult education.The teacher-participants consisted of seven females:four white-European and three Latina (LatinAmerican) females, all of middle-class backgrounds.The participants all had extensive experience,ranging from 5 to 15 years of teaching. They taughtin small, rural Idaho, USA schools with growingimmigrant populations, predominantly Latino/a.The Latino population in Idaho is largely Mexicanand Central American.

2.2. Method of study and data analysis

As part of their Master’s (Post-Graduate) pro-gram, the participants completed the following twocourses: (1) Curriculum Planning and Implementa-

tion and (2) The Culturally Diverse Learner. In thefirst course, participants were taught about thenarrative writing process and its importance, both

ARTICLE IN PRESSA. Hale et al. / Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 1413–1425 1415

for the teacher-participants and for their students(Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Coffey, 2007; Gud-mundsottir, 2001). As a requirement of the firstcourse, each teacher-participant wrote and pre-sented her own narrative. In the second course,the teacher-participants were taught methods ofethnographic research and writing as a means tolearn about other cultures (Atkinson et al., 2001;Frank, 1999; McCaleb, 1994; Spradley, 1979;Valdes, 1996). They each completed an ethno-graphic case study with a member of an ethnic/cultural group (other than their own) from their pre-K to adult classes. The case study format was useddue to the time limitations of one semester(16 weeks) to complete an ethnographic paper. Assuch, the teacher-participants wrote and presentedethnographic papers, based on their experience ofstudying and interviewing one informant from theirculture of study. Upon completion of both courses,we individually compiled data to investigate thefollowing question: What are the commonalitiesbetween the narrative and ethnographic writingprocesses that prepare teachers to more effectivelyeducate culturally diverse learners in the UnitedStates?

Through a qualitative approach, we individuallyanalyzed respective data through document analysis(Patton, 2002). We each used an open-codingapproach (Strauss & Corbin, 1998) in looking forgenerative themes—‘‘recurring threads of thoughtthat are woven throughout the dialogues and thatsignify important issues to the lives of the partici-pants’’ (Freire, 1970; McCaleb, 1994). Themesemerged through our data interpretation of boththe narrative and ethnographic writings (Ada,Beutel, & Peterson, 1990). We then explored themesindependently and in consideration of their com-monalities. Each of us also analyzed our datasources in conjunction with related literature tothe field/culture of study. We subsequently com-pared emergent themes. In discovering commonal-ities within our themes, we determined a number ofpowerful effects for teachers of the narrative andethnographic writing processes. Additionally, com-parison of the findings across groups demonstratesthat these commonalities indicate an intrinsic valueof intentionally creating a bridge between the twoprocesses. Creating this bridge could lead to betterpedagogy in preparing teachers to work withculturally and linguistically diverse learners in theUnited States as well as throughout the world. Non-American scholars and educators can equally gain

from this research as it applies to the study of selfand cultures in any culturally diverse context.

2.3. Narrative

In recent years, personal narratives, or teacherautobiographies, have become an increasinglypopular educational research and professionaldevelopment tool in the United States’ educationalsystem (Nieto, 2003). In education, narrative writ-ing is one of the best mechanisms for teachers toexplore and re-contextualize their life experiencesand to discover how they connect and influencetheir teaching pedagogy (Clandinin & Connelly,2000; Lemberger, 1997; Pinar, 2004). Teacherautobiographies encourage educators to examineand reflect on their lived experiences and tell theirstories as only they can tell them (Zinsser, 1998).

The uniqueness of all persons is found in theindividual experiences they have lived and in theunique ways they tell their own stories. Over time,narratives help teachers answer the questions of whythey entered the teaching profession and what keepsthem there (Nieto, 2003). Narratives also affordteachers a mechanism or lens for more criticallyexamining their current practices (Ah Nee-Benham& Cooper, 1998; Hooks, 1994; Moraga & Anzaldua,2002). When teachers deconstruct their personalhistories and stories, they may gain cultural aware-ness and insight into school systems and structuresof power and privilege. Pinar (2004) suggests alleducators engage in the process of examining thecurriculum of their lives through ‘‘currere.’’ Hesuggests this ‘‘autobiographical method of writingprovides a strategy for self-study, one phase ofwhich seeks synthetical moments of ‘mobilization’when, as individuals and as teachers, we enter ‘thearena’ to educate the American public’’ (p. xiii).Educators will then gain reflective insight intoprogressive steps for their future pedagogy.Although teachers may work hard to leave theirvalues, beliefs and biases outside school doors, thereality is that:

[T]eachers bring their entire autobiographies withthemyIt is useless for them to deny this; themost they can do is acknowledge how these mayeither get in the way of, or enhance, their workwith students (Nieto, 2003, p. 24).

Therefore, the value of educators gaining cogni-zance of how their personal identities influence theirteacher identities and the interconnectedness of the


two is becoming increasingly noted. Valuing thepower and influence of one’s own autobiographies,‘‘must be at the heart of teaching because teaching isan encounter with the self’’ (Nieto, 2003, p. 25). Ourteacher-participants demonstrated their abilities toemploy tools from narrative analysis to deconstructand redesign their own selves, described in Nieto’s‘‘What Keeps Teachers Going?’’ (2003).

Atkinson (2005) reiterates that the forms of dataand analysis should reflect the forms of culture andof social action. In other words,

We collect and analyse personal narratives andlife-histories because they are a collection oftypes or forms—spoken and written—throughwhich various kinds of social activity areaccomplished. They are themselves forms ofsocial action in which identities, biographies,and various other kinds of work get done. Oneaccords importance to narratives and narrativeanalysis because they are important kinds ofsocial action (p. 2).

As researchers/educators, we have chosen to in-corporate narrative writing in our program course-work because it has become a tangible and personalway for teachers to conduct and produce researchon their individual education practices. Whathappens in a classroom is a social and culturalconstruction. It is thus crucial that teachers, alongwith their students, become authors of their owneducational and life experiences and that theirvoices be heard and be given legitimate recognition.Doing so provides an avenue to move from atraditional form of education into one of transfor-mative value in which teachers take ownership oftheir profession and work diligently to create moredemocratic and meaningful experiences for them-selves and their students (Hooks, 1994).

2.4. Definition and purpose of narratives for teachers

Narrative essays, in simple terms, tell stories(Bruner, 1994; Clandinin & Connelly, 2000). Unliketraditional writing or research, narrative inquirydoes not rely on numbers or triangulation of data toachieve validation; rather plausibility, or the persua-siveness of the story, is what narrative readers andresearchers look for. Narrative is a pervasive andimportant way of reporting experience (Atkinson,2005). It is an important genre of spoken action andrepresentation in everyday life, and in manyspecialized contexts. Narrative, therefore, should

be studied insofar as it is a particular feature of agiven cultural milieu.

Narratives cannot be generalized to a broaderpopulation as is typically done with more tradi-tional genres of writing and research because storiesare unique to each individual. Instead, narrativewriters and inquirers look for the transferability

value of the story. Does the story told have thepotential for relating to someone else’s experiences,for connecting with somebody else’s world? Finally,in order for narratives to connect with readers/listeners in a meaningful and transformative way,they must bring the reader into the story from thevery beginning with an invitational quality.

In addition to the criteria presented above,Bullough and Pinnegar (2001) propose their ownguidelines for autobiographical narratives. Theyendorse the idea that autobiographical or self-studies should enable connection, promote insightand interpretation, be about the issues and pro-blems that make someone an educator, and offerfresh perspectives on teaching and learning. There-fore, educators should remain cognizant of thepurposes for writing one’s own narratives andthe audiences those stories are intended to reach.The teacher-participants in this research were askedto look into their personal histories and writenarratives focusing on the following question:‘‘How has our own school curriculum influencedus as students and as educators?’’ Teacher-partici-pants were encouraged to forge connections, pro-mote insight and interpretations into who theyare as an educator and why. As each story offersa new understanding of oneself and fresh perspec-tives on education, the potential and possibilitiesfor educational transformation become innumer-able when the ‘‘looking back’’ aspect of personalnarratives turns toward ‘‘looking forward’’ or‘‘looking beyond.’’

2.5. Features of narrative writing

In successful narrative writing, the author alwaysmakes a point. Though on the surface, narrativesmight appear to be a simple retelling of a particularexperience, event, or episode of a person’s life, uponfurther examination, an effectively and passionatelytold story brings forth important and life-changingmoral and ethical lessons.

Narratives that are persuasive and transformativeinclude a variety of features. First, narratives mustinclude an introduction that clearly indicates what


the story is about and ends with a conclusion thatsolidifies their point. Second, they should includeanecdotes in which the author describes in detail theperson, experience or event he or she is writingabout. Third, thoughts, verbs, and vocabularyselected to describe the person, experience, or eventshould be vivid so as to ‘‘lead the reader to reflect onthe human experience’’ (Jordan-Henley, 1988, p. 1).Fourth, narratives are typically told in first person,giving the reader a more intimate connection to theauthor’s experience. Finally, stories should bewritten with liveliness in new and different waysso as to demonstrate the author’s own personalstyle. The influence of publicly sharing narratives isthen to offer insights into the phenomena describedfor others and for transforming future practice andor potential.

To summarize, narrative writing for teachers inall countries strives to: encourage critical self-reflection of one’s own lived experiences; createawareness of how one’s life experiences influencetheir teaching philosophies and praxis; illuminatethe interconnectedness of personal identities andteacher identities; provide an avenue for under-standing why one entered the teaching professionand what keeps him/her there; and critically reflecton one’s teaching praxis for modification andinclusion of marginalized/diverse learners.

2.6. Process for narrative

Within the context of the Curriculum: Creating,Planning and Implementation course, the primarygoals for teacher-participants were to:

�
gain knowledge and awareness of the historicaland present-day influences affecting the planningand implementation of bilingual/English as asecond language curriculum, � gain awareness and understanding of the margin-
alization and exclusion of underrepresentedpopulations in mainstream school curriculum,
� gain knowledge and skills necessary to effectively
plan and implement curricular changes within theclassroom and school community so as toeffectively engage culturally diverse learners inthe United States.

There were three required course texts, whichprovided a foundation for the students to learn thepraxis of narrative in conjunction with understand-

ing the influences affecting curriculum and cultu-rally diverse learners in the US:

(1)
Cary (2000). Working with second language
learners: Answers to teachers’ top ten questions.Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

(2)
Lemberger (1997). Bilingual education: Teachers’
narratives. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum As-sociates.

(3)
Peddiwell (1939). The saber-tooth curriculum.New York: McGraw-Hill.
In addition to the required texts, students werealso assigned other readings dealing in general withcurriculum issues and teacher narratives. As part oftheir course assignments, students were first askedto write narratives describing a specific curricularexperience they had encountered in their education,which helped them re-conceptualize themselves,their school, and/or the world, either positively ornegatively. A second narrative they were required towrite concerned a specific school experience relatedto an injustice that personally affected them andtheir teaching praxis.

In order to tell a compelling and insightful story,the students were given the narrative featuresdescribed earlier in this article to help ensure theirsuccess in the writing process. In addition, variousexamples of previous student and teacher narrativesdealing with curriculum issues were assigned to theclass. This provided concrete examples for writingstories and served as a platform for students to askquestions regarding their own narratives and thebest and most effective ways to tell them.

In order to facilitate a safe environment with alow affective filter, students were divided into smallgroups and asked to share their narratives. Thestudents listening were encouraged to ask questions,give feedback, and make connections and commentsto the author of each narrative. Atkinson (2005)documents the need to

analyse narratives and life-materials, in order totreat them as instances of social action—asspeech-acts or events with common properties,recurrent structures, cultural conventions andrecognisable genres (p. 6).

In order for ‘‘narrative’’ analysis to have rigur,individual ‘‘stories’’ must be grounded in a sus-tained analysis of their forms and functions. Thus,once students in the group had read their narrative,students were asked to compare and contrast the


similarities and differences amongst their experi-ences. After each group completed this activity, theinstructor sought volunteers to share their narrativewith the entire class. At the end of the course, a classcollection of the narratives was compiled by theinstructor and each student was given a copy.

It was through narrative writing, sharing, and thecritiquing process that an act of collective respon-sibility was formed in which each individual wasresponsible for creating a shared and connectedlearning environment. Through the telling ofnarratives a communal commitment to learningwas established and the fear of conflict was not aspowerful as was the renewed commitment forgrowth and new ways of thinking. This concept issimilarly conveyed by Conle (2003) when he writes:

Stories open possibilities to our imagination. Thequality of those possibilities is vital to the qualityof our future. A person without access to certainstories is a person without hope, without socialvisionyThe narratives available to us delimitour areas of choice. It is the narrative repertoireof our imagination that helps us distinguish theworld we live in from the world we want to liveinyTeacher and student are co-inquirers and co-learners, each with their own crucial expertisecontributing to the [learning] process (p. 4).

Once discovery of self has been experienced andcritically reflected upon through narrative writing,the introduction of ethnography is a powerfulsubsequent step to enhancing teacher efficacy inworking with diverse learners.

2.7. Ethnography

A simple definition of ethnography is a writtendescription of culture, which itself has numerousdefinitions. In one respect, culture can be viewed asthe acquired knowledge that people use to interpretexperiences and generate social behavior. It is notjust a cognitive map that ‘‘tells’’ people what to doin given situations; it is a guide for acting, knowingwhat is appropriate; principles for interpreting andresponding within a given society (Spradley, 1979,pp. 5–7). Herbert Blumer enunciated the principlethat research should be ‘‘faithful’’ to the phenomenaunder investigation (Blumer, 1954; Hammersley,1989). As researchers and educators, we educate ourstudents in both narrative and ethnographic writingprocesses as we believe they are both faithful to theprocess of studying one’s own and other cultures.

In contrast to anthropology where one collectsdata about a certain group of people, ethnographyseeks to learn about a people group from studyingwith them. It starts with a humble attitude ofignorance with the goal of developing an ‘‘epistemo-logical humility’’ (Spradley, 1979, p. 11). In otherwords, the goal is to learn from the people, verseshaving a superior theoretical attitude of studyingabout them. It allows for a member of the culturalgroup to experience the value of having somethingto teach the ethnographer. The realization that one’s‘outside’ interpretation may not always be accurateprovides the need to include the ‘insider’ perspective.

Ethnographers seek to gain depth of awareness;greater consciousness; to grasp an ‘‘emic’’ or aninsider’s perspective versus an ‘‘etic’’ or outsideperspective. Although it is extremely difficult toobtain a fully ‘insider’ perspective, the realization ofone’s place (outside) is a vital part of the awarenessprocess. Ethnography also entails a desire to learnabout oneself—to consider one’s own culture inlight of the culture(s) he/she is studying. Inparticular, ethnographers seek to understand as-pects of culture that cannot be seen—the icebergbelow the surface of the water—having to do withthe meaning of values, belief systems, and world-views that drive cultural group behaviors. Oftencultural studies are conducted on people groups as ameans of further oppression. In contrast, the goal ofa teacher ethnographer is also to set free and givevoice to his/her students.

As professors and researchers, our purpose inincorporating ethnography into our program cour-sework is for our teachers to gain knowledge oftheir students so as to be more effective in teachingtheir increasingly diverse learners. It is also toreflect, with our teachers, in what concrete wayseducators [and administrators] can improve theirvalidation of children’s/parents cultures, outside ofthe dominant culture.

This process involves becoming more reflectiveand critical of one’s teaching. It strives to considerwhat is being done consciously/unconsciously tovalidate or invalidate home cultures. It seeks to gainunderstanding of other cultural perceptions andexpectations of education. It hopes to consider waysthat teachers could do more to incorporate minoritycultures in the US and give more voice to children ofthese cultures.

Our goal as educators is for teachers to ultimatelygain a deeper understanding of their students so thatthey are better prepared to deal with issues of equity


and social justice. As such, an intrinsic part ofethnography is to recognize one’s own biases in orderto gain new perspectives and act within this perspec-tive toward one’s students and their cultural group.

As teachers, it is our responsibility to help studentssucceed. When a teacher knows a student, there is amuch greater chance of academic success as the childdevelops a greater sense of self-esteem/confidencefrom being known and understood. Educators knowself-esteem and confidence are indispensable for long-term positive learning. In knowing a child, a teacher inthe US can affirm a child’s home values rather thancreate a struggle of allegiances between home andschool cultures and value systems.

In summary, ethnographic writing for teachersstrives to:

�
encourage critical reflection of one’s own teach-ing practices, � gain awareness of cultural differences and nega-
tive perceptions,
� modify culturally bound theories of others, � enable educators to more effectively teach differ-
ent ethnic groups,
� encourage advocacy for one’s culturally diverse
learners.

2.8. Process for ethnographic case study

Within the context of the Cultural Diverse

Learner course, the primary course goals foreducators were to:

�
identify and investigate an ethnic/cultural groupfor study, � identify group perspectives with relation to
education, and how these perspectives corre-spond with the framework of a public Americanschool,
� read literature from one’s own cultural back-
ground to better inform one’s understanding ofthis group’s belief and value systems,
� understand how belief systems affect different
understandings of education,
� learn the ethnographic writing process, � complete an ethnographic case study.
The required course texts were

(1)
Frank (1999). Ethnographic eyes: A teacher’s
guide to classroom observation. Portsmouth,NH: Heinemann.

(2)
McCaleb, S.P. (1994). Building communities of
learners: A collaboration among teachers, stu-

dents, families, and community. NY: St. Martin’sPress.

(3)
Spradley (1979). The Ethnographic Interview.
New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich CollegePublishers.

Students were also responsible for outside read-ings, based on their culture of study. They wererequired to research: (1) adult literature written by amember of the group, such as an ethnography, oralhistory, or case study; (2) children’s literaturerevealing values/belief systems (applicable to gain-ing insights into values toward education); (3)culturally specific articles about educating membersof the group under study.

Students were made aware that the primarypurpose of the ethnographic project (in the contextof the Bilingual Master’s degree) was to learn howbest to educate US students from differing ethnic/cultural groups. Through ethnographic interviewing,students sought to gain insights into a particularcultural group’s perspectives, attitudes, values, andbelief systems. The project was designed to setstudents on a lifelong path of learning about othercultures. Over the years, students from varying socio-cultural backgrounds will enter a given US classroomand it is a teacher’s obligation to at least try tounderstand a child’s worldview so as to moreeffectively meet his/her educational needs. By readingculturally relevant literature and by talking tocommunity members, teachers in the US may increasetheir ability to reach a child as well as educate otherchildren about this child’s cultural group.

The process of engaging in an ethnographic casestudy included students selecting an ethnic/culturalgroup for study. Each student wrote a short,personal essay on why they chose the specific groupthey wanted to study. Reflecting on readings fromSpadley’s book, The Ethnographic Interview, stu-dents gained understanding of the difference inscope between a full ethnography and an ethno-graphic case study. The case study approach fit intothe limitations of a semester-long course and abilityto interview only one informant. Merriam (1998)defines the case study as particularistic (focusing onone person or social unit), descriptive (because theresult is a rich, thick portrait), and heuristic (becauseit sharpens the reader’s understanding and leads todiscovering new meanings). The case study is alsoinductive (because generalizations and hypotheses


emerge from examination of the data). The purposeof case studies is not to generalize, but to look atspecific examples so that solutions for more generalsituations can be developed. Within this context,students thus conducted a comparative analysis oftheir case study findings with culturally specificliterature to validate/invalidate their conclusions.All of the students, both within and outside of thisstudy came away with incredible personal, educa-tional, and cultural insights that greatly affectedtheir teaching praxis.

2.9. Bridging narrative and ethnography: teachers’

and students’ experiences

Both the narrative and ethnographic processesinvolve first becoming aware of the lens orperspective one is looking through, from one’sown cultural background. They are methods thatseek not to make assumptions or to judge, but to tryto be as objective as possible. In theory, this conceptis often readily adopted by practitioners. However,the actual praxis of first becoming aware of one’sown cultural biases; recognizing the color of thewater one swims in, is not always simple. It takesconcerted time, effort, and desire.

If the educational process is truly going to have atransformative effect on its students, it cannotcontinue to separate the teacher from the student,nor the student from the subject matter, nor eitherof these from the pedagogy employed in theclassroom. All parties must merge together for realchange to occur. The inclusion of personal experi-ence in coursework and ethnographic understand-ing allows for this merging to take place because itallows students to take ownership of their ownlearning and ‘‘claim a knowledge base from whichthey can speak’’ (hooks, 1994, p. 148) allowingknowledge to be sought collectively rather thantaught individually.

As Chavez-Chavez (1999) declares:

Multicultural education and its discourse areinextricably linked to the telling and listening ofstory. Stories show that reality is not fixed.Reality is not a given. We construct our storiesthrough conversations, through our lives to-gether, through the visions that we constructtogether. This process cannot exist without bothteller and listener, a tango, where no one leadsnor follows but because of both something new,better is created (pp. 248–249).

It is impossible to deny that teachers and studentshave experiences that are relevant to the learningprocess. The purpose of education has been, andwill always be, showing teachers and students howto reconstruct and re-define themselves, theirschools and the world. Coffey (2007) describes thisprocess as an autoethnographic practice, in whichthe presence of the researcher (ethnographer) isintrinsically a part of the research process. Storieshelp educators and students discover their ownbeings and collectively work to re-member eachother and change the world into a more equitableand just place.

Only when teachers and students truly become‘‘whole’’ by feeling with both mind and body canAmerican education for the practice of freedom,democracy, and social justice become a reality(Burch, 2001). Stories help push teachers andstudents in that direction through the endlesspossibilities they present for seeing others as partof a collective whole rather than marginalized andisolated strangers. Stories help individuals humanize‘‘The Other’’ (Chavez-Chavez, 1999) by eradicatingfear and allowing for more humane and compassio-nate understanding. As Smith (1999) once said,‘‘I have come to understand that I use my ownstories as a bridge to understand the lives of others’’(pp. 2–3). Similarly, we as researchers have come tosee the value of teachers bridging their narrativeswith the ethnographic stories of their students. Asour teacher-participants engaged in this criticalprocess, they demonstrated a depth of awareness,described by Smith (1999), of both self and others.

Having a base understanding of the narrative andethnographic research and writing processes pro-vides the background for unveiling the themes, asvoiced by our teacher-participants. The intercon-nected nature of these themes creates an interwoventapestry that supersedes the individual themes. Theimportance of these themes is evidenced in thepersonal and professional transformations thatoccurred for our teachers. Highlights of their storieswill be shared after a brief discussion of thenarrative and ethnographic research and writingprocess. We conclude with suggestions for class-room application for implementing these methods.

3. Results

As part of completing their respective course-work, teacher-participants were asked to reflect onthe value of learning narrative and ethnographic


methods as a means to more effectively teachculturally diverse learners. These reflections wereincluded as periodic class writings as well as in theteacher-participants’ final papers. The three primarythemes instructor-researchers discovered in com-mon were (1) awareness of self and others; (2)consciousness of educational issues and theirimplications; (3) transformative action and advo-cacy. These themes are elaborated upon with quotesfrom teacher-participants and supporting literature.

3.1. Awareness of self and others

Awareness of self involves acknowledging thevalue of one’s own life experiences and seeing howthose experiences have shaped one’s personal beliefsand values. For teacher-participants this awarenessinvolves acknowledging how one’s identity entersthe classroom and is a pervasive force in drivingcurricular decisions as well as interactions withstudents. Ultimately, this understanding bringsabout a greater awareness of what brings anindividual to the teaching profession and whatkeeps him/her there. This awareness of self andone’s own potential biases enables a teacher to valueand respect others’ stories as they value their own.Teachers are then able to be more understandingand compassionate when their cultural values andbeliefs conflict with those of their students.

Gaining awareness of self and others is one of themost fundamental and critical parts of bothnarrative and ethnographic studies. Freire (1970)posits:

How is it possible for us to work in a communitywithout feeling the spirit of the culture that hasbeen there for many years, without trying tounderstand the soul of the culture? Withoutunderstanding the soul of the culture, we justinvade the culture.

In a similar vein, teachers who lack understandingof themselves and their students may inadvertentlydevalue a student’s culture, values, and beliefsystems. Through an increased awareness, teacherscan come to a truer understanding of the challengestheir students face. With this knowledge, they thenmay become more proactive in taking transforma-tive action on behalf of themselves and theirstudents.

In her narrative, Cindy, a teacher-participant inthe Curriculum, Planning, and Implementation

course expresses the crucial nature of engaging in

the sharing of stories through dialogue and writtennarratives with oneself and others. It is through theexchange of words that people come to know oneanother, and in doing so, transcend themselves—opening up the possibilities for changing the statusquo of American society in solidarity with others.

Without dialogue and narratives the learningbecomes one-sided and patriarchal. Only theteacher’s version (or the teacher’s How-to Man-ual) is considered. This type of teaching is acontinuation of teacher centered learning, whichis following the status quo of our society andeventually leading us into an abyss by thecontinuous creation of a society that is illiterate,ignorant, and inhumane. We as educators have amoral obligation to do cultural work in ourclassrooms. Only then can we begin to transformsociety and eventually the world. (Cindy)

Renee, another teacher-participant in the samecourse, realized that part of her journey of selfdiscovery involved experiencing the stories of othersand how those stories are interconnected with herown, transforming her into a more aware andunderstanding teacher.

The [narrative nature of the] curriculum of thisprogramme has helped me to see others’ situa-tions as real, to feel their pain, and understandtheir struggles. I know my privilege and recognizemy oppressive behavior. I no longer discountstories of oppression as fiction, but have begun tounderstand the validity and impact these storieshave on human beings. I leave the programmeunderstanding the importance of a caring, loving,compassionate teacher. (Renee)

Ana, also from the curriculum course, reflects onthe transformation she is going through in hernarrative, as she thinks about and questions her roleas a teacher. Her transformation allows her to seethe importance of critical questioning, self-reflec-tion, and what Maxine Greene (1986) calls, ‘beingfully present.’’ As a result of Ana’s transformativejourney, her students are now reaping the benefit ofher realization that school is not only about factsand figures, but rather, about the human experi-ences of her students.

The journey has been enlightening; my mind hasfelt restless during several occasions. I havequestioned my pedagogyyam I really presentin the classroom? Am I deeply engaged with my


students? The pain and discomfort that I haveexperienced throughout the programme has beengood for me; it has helped me grow and become abetter educatoryI need to invite my students toshare their personal experiences. The curriculumI employ in my classroom needs to reflect theculture, value, experiences and interests of mystudents. (Ana)

From an ethnographic perspective of gainingawareness, Michelle, a teacher-participant fromthe Culturally Diverse Learner course reflects:

I learned so many things from this project. I reallyenjoyed doing it. I had the myth dispelled for methat a lot of white families are not interested orjust don’t care about their child’s education. Ilearned many of the reasons why my ethno-graphic group is not as involved as I hope theywould be. Finding out that poverty is not just achoice, but an ethnic group, was very interestingto me since I, in a way, grew up in poverty. I feelthat understanding that poverty is a culture willgive way to understanding my students better.I try to understand and gain knowledge of astudent’s culture, but just never quite realized thatpoverty was a culture. (Michelle)

This teacher-participant gained great insight intoherself in realizing the lens with which she waslooking at world. Though she came from this sameethnic/cultural group, she was like a fish unable tosee the water she was swimming in. Ethnographygave her the opportunity to get outside of this waterand see herself from the outside, as well as herstudents from the inside. At the same time, werecognize that this teacher-participant could beentertaining a deficit model of cultural awarenessin her references to a ‘‘culture of poverty.’’ For thefirst time, she was recognizing socio-economic classas an important part of getting to know herstudents. However, all educators must work toensure teachers do not diminish their conceptions ofindividual students by associating them all intosimilar ethnic/cultural categories. In this study all ofour teacher-participants evidenced their comprehen-sion and internalization of the concept, which hasbeen well-documented in ethnographic literature(McCaleb, 1994; Valdes, 1996), that teachers needto understand or at least try to take into account thesocio-cultural backgrounds of their students with-out reducing them to such if they wish to teacheffectively.

With a new appreciation for their increasedawareness of themselves and others, our teacher-participants gained a greater consciousness ofeducational issues facing students in their classand the implications these issues have on their dailylives. They came away with an awakening ofcurricular issues in that, where they once wereunable to see certain biases they became enlightenedwith an ‘insider’ perspective. While initially beingblind to certain discriminatory practices within thesystem affecting their students, they gained cogni-zance to the prevalent biases inherent in schoolcultures. Reflecting on the process of narrative andethnography teacher-participants responded to theirindividual experiences and then made connectionsthrough bridging the two pedagogies used in thiscoursework and considering their own futurepedagogy with culturally and linguistically diverselearners in the US.

3.2. Consciousness of educational issues and their

implications

Nieto (2003) has theorized that in order to trulyunderstand one’s students, one must first under-stand herself. This theory was supported by ourteacher-participants’ self-declared increased aware-ness. It was also taken a step further as thisawareness led to a new level of consciousness ofeducational issues often faced by their students.

Katie, a teacher-participant in the curriculumcourse, chronicles her journey as a young childcoping with her mother’s cancer and subsequentdeath. She reflects on the internal struggles she facedand how they affected her time and work in theclassroom. By understanding how her mother’sdeath affected her own identity as a student, amongother roles, she is now able to really see into thefaces of her students. In her narrative, Katie speaksto the power of Nieto’s theory, as well as taking thenext step of adopting a more democratic andtransformative pedagogy for her students.

Now I look upon the faces of my students andknow that each day they are faced withchallenges. For some they are small and forsome they are unbearable. Yet, they must learnand I must teach. The word that keeps enteringmy mind is the word balance. How do we balanceit all? How do we offer a rewarding educationalexperience when the lives of many have dispro-portionate hardship and/or injustice? First we


must reflect upon our beliefs, biases, andpractices. Do we make assumptions or base ourpractices, as teachers, on a student’s race,ethnicity, gender, religion, sexual orientation,first language, or socio-economic status? Do wecare about our students and do they know wecare? (Katie)

Katie’s reflective questions reveal not only herheightened awareness of her students’ lives, butalso a deeper consciousness of how she as a teacherplays a critical role in facilitating a positiveeducational experience for her students.

Sonia, another teacher-participant from thediversity course gained great insights into her Latinaidentity and the struggles Latinas face in theeducational system by engaging in an ethnographicstudy of Latina women. The following quote reflectsthe consciousness she gained:

I have appreciated this time to reflect upon myown identity and the where and how I becamewho I am. It is enlightening to draw connectionsto literature and other great females historicallyand present-day. This is an opportunity thatshould be afforded to all females, the earlier, thebetter. (Sonia)

The different insights each teacher-participant cameaway with from their ethnographies, althoughvaried, ultimately helped them know how to teachtheir students more effectively. For instance, Sonia’scultural analysis enabled her to understand more ofthe assimilation children go through to survive inthe dominant culture of the United States. In herethnography, the Latina girl Sonia interviewedstated,

A lot of the girls in my grade say she thinks she’sbetter than us because she hangs out with thewhite girls (ethnographic interviewee).

As children try to ‘‘assimilate’’ into the dominantculture, they often experience resentment by peersfrom their own culture, particularly if they begin toblend in. An awareness of these challenges providedthe ethnographer/teacher with greater empathytoward her student’s struggles and ability to designmore appropriate class work. The teacher subse-quently added components of diversity and valuingothers to her curriculum in an attempt to alleviatesome of the cultural tensions the girls in her classwere encountering. As explored by one of the most

renowned educators of voicing a need for advocacy,Freire (1970) emphasizes,

Traditional schooling is too often a process ofdomestication; as such, it seeks to preserve thestatus quo and prevailing social conditions.Transformative education, on the other hand,aims to support the full development of humanbeings (p. 60).

Narrative and ethnography enabled our teacher-participants to gain increased consciousnessthrough looking critically at themselves, their lifeexperiences, and those of others. Through a newlens they recognized educational issues and implica-tions that were previously hidden from their vision.Discovering new and multiple perspectives theirstudents bring to the classroom motivated ourteacher-participants to gain their own voices inproactive advocacy for their students.

3.3. Transformative action and advocacy

Transformative advocacy can take many forms.While some of our teacher-participants took moreblatant measures of advocacy, others operatedthrough more subtle means, yet all had a similartransformative aim or effect. Having the courage tolook deep inside oneself and make the necessarychanges it takes to become a more caring, passio-nate, and democratic educator is not an easy task. Itis often a painful journey that leaves the individualwith more questions than answers. However, trulyknowing oneself and how one’s experiences haveshaped who the individual is, as a teacher, gives riseto a transformative power—a power that awakensthe silenced voices and hearts of teachers and allowsthem to be a part of their own practices, theireducational destinies. Jolene, a teacher-participantfrom the curriculum course, powerfully illustratesthis when she writes:

My personality has changed from being a silentpeople-pleaser, to being confident in my ownthinking ability. I now recognize the emptyrhetoric I constantly hear and acknowledge thereis abuse and discrimination occurring everywherearound me. I feel an incessant need to speak outin defenseyI have personally opted out ofseveral ‘institutions’ that existed in glory in myformer life. I have opted out of the status quothat accompanies my job as a public schoolteacher. That ‘institution’ with all its colonizing


virtues is alive and healthy in my local schooldistrict. (Jolene)

Jolene is emphasizing that she now clearly sees herlocal school system as a patriarchal, colonizinginstitution for her minority students or those withless power. Having recognized this, she now iscompelled to speak out against such injustices andadvocate for her students, even if it means upsettingthose in power. She has taken on more leadershiproles in which she has to make tough decisions. Sheis no longer concerned with being popular withother teachers but rather, doing what is right forstudents and their families.

Another example of transformative action wasevidenced in the diversity course. A teacher-partici-pant discovered some inner fears of the student sheinterviewed in her ethnographic study. Throughgaining ‘insider’ knowledge of cultural and linguisticpressures within the educational testing system inthe US, the teacher-participant became much moreof an advocate for her students:

Educating students sometimes involves helpingthem to find their own voices; knowing aproblem exists, but not being able to name it isa reality for many people. Transformation beginswith education, but takes flight with criticalthinking. The action I will take will be in posingquestions that require students to think criticallyof themselves, their education and their futures.I’ll work to expose the barriers in education thatthis cultural group faces within members of thegroup and those that affect members of thegroup. (Leanne)

With this knowledge, Leanne became more proac-tive in helping to alleviate her students’ fears andempower them to succeed. Through additionalresearch of related literature, Leanne learned thatthoughts of college are often not as realistic forsome communities, when getting through highschool is possibly the greatest personal achievementand family expectation. Yet, knowing the individualstrengths and capabilities of all her students, sheadvocated for them to reach their full potential,both within and beyond the classroom.

An important step for educators in the journeytowards a more transformative form of education isnot only in finding one’s voice but also in learninghow to use it proactively so that changes can bemade. In their writing, Ada and Campoy (1998)emphasize the point of transformative education as

being a new approach for teachers to reach their owntrue goals, rather than an additional process thatteachers add on to what they are already doing.

The majority of our teacher-participants fromboth courses revealed how finding their voices gavethem the courage to become active participants intheir respective school communities. Through moreengaged participation, teacher-participants were ableto make small, yet crucial, changes that benefited notonly their students but also their schools andcolleagues. One of the greatest effects of narrativesand ethnographies that we, as researchers, encoun-tered was the transformative power of this discoveryprocess for teachers—to move from greater self-awareness and critical consciousness to transforma-tive action—which was realized through varyingtypes of advocacy for themselves and their students.

4. Conclusions and suggestions for educational

praxis

The inherent value of narrative and ethnographicwriting, coupled with the documented positiveeffects of bridging the two, lead us to concludewith several considerations of how educators canapply these methodologies with their own students.

Educators can:

�
‘‘mine their own histories’’ as a means of gainingself-awareness, � research an ethnic group within their student
body to gain a deeper understanding of how toeducate a given cultural group,
� help students discover the power of their own
cultural origins and experiences through writingtheir own stories and documenting the stories oftheir ancestors.

If educators are going to do their part to becomemore transformative individuals, they must make aradical shift and reflect on how their values, beliefs,biases, and experiences influence and guide the workthey do with students. As Feldman (2003) says, ‘‘Forus to change how we teach requires us to change whowe are as teachers’’ (p. 27). Aside from being anacademic endeavor, educating ourselves as teachers isundeniably a moral and political activity (Purpel,1999). Educators must embrace new ways ofchallenging themselves to think differently aboutthe world they live in and how that world affects theeducational experiences of their students. Indeed,educators in all countries would benefit from


deconstructing their self and teaching identities inorder to better understand potential differencestudents may bring to the classroom and how theymay best serve all of their students. When a richerunderstanding of any society and its influences oneducation systems is uncovered, educators may guidestudents to more productive participation in thosesocieties. Bridging narrative and ethnography pro-vides educators with an avenue for the education ofself and others, the world they live in, how that worldaffects the educational experiences of their students,and ultimately the role they can play to make an evergreater difference in the lives of their students.

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Transformative education for culturally diverse learners through narrative and ethnography