Skip to main content

Beginning to Unravel a Narrative Tension in My Professional Learning about Teaching Writing

  • Chapter

Part of the book series: Studies in Professional Life and Work ((SPLW))

Abstract

A burden that I carry from my past and for which I feel accountable is the educational privilege that characterised my school experience as a White1, middleclass, high-achiever in apartheid South Africa. While it might seem disingenuous to describe educational privilege as a burden, in looking back over my professional life as a teacher and university educator, I can see how my initial choice to become a teacher and my subsequent pedagogic choices and undertakings have been influenced by my emotional distress at having been privileged, primarily because of my racial classification, at the expense of other children.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.

Buying options

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD   39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Andrews, D., & Osman, R. (2015). Redress for academic success: Possible ‘lessons’ for university support programmes from a high school literacy and learning intervention: Part 2. South African Journal of Higher Education, 29(1), 354–372.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barone, T. (2008). Creative nonfiction and social research. In J. G. Knowles & A. L. Cole (Eds.), Handbook of the arts in qualitative research (pp. 105–115). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bharuthram, S. (2012). Making a case for the teaching of reading across the curriculum in higher education. South African Journal of Education, 32(2), 205–214. Retrieved from http://www.sajournalofeducation.co.za/index.php/saje/article/view/557

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Breckenridge, J. P. (2016). The reflexive role of tanka poetry in domestic abuse research. Journal of Research in Nursing, 1–14.

    Google Scholar 

  • Butler-Kisber, L. (2005). Inquiry through poetry: The genesis of self-study. In C. Mitchell, S. Weber & K. O’Reilly-Scanlon (Eds.), Just who do we think we are? Methodologies for autobiography and self-study in teaching (pp. 95–110). London, UK: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Charon, R., Hermann, N., & Devlin, M. J. (2016). Close reading and creative writing in Clinical Education: Teaching attention, representation, and affiliation. Academic Medicine: Journal of the Association of American Medical Colleges, 91(3), 345–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Christie, P. (1991). The right to learn: The struggle for education in South Africa (2nd ed.). Braamfontein, South Africa: Ravan Press and Sached Trust.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clandinin, J. (2013). Engaging in narrative inquiry. Walnut Creek, CA: Left Coast Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (1994). Personal experience methods. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 413–427). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (2000). Narrative inquiry: Experience and story in qualitative research. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conle, C. (2000). Thesis as narrative or ‘What is the inquiry in narrative inquiry?’ Curriculum Inquiry, 30(2), 189-214.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. W. (1993). Schools and social justice. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Coulter, C. A., & Smith, M. L. (2009). The construction zone: Literary elements in narrative research. Educational Researcher, 38(8), 577–590.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Day, C., & Lee, J. C.-K. (Eds.). (2011). New understandings of teacher's work: Emotions and educational change: Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Denzin, N. K. (1994). The art and politics of interpretation. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 500–515). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1934). Art as experience. New York: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, J. (1963). Experience and education. New York: Collier Books. (Original work published 1938.)

    Google Scholar 

  • DeSalvo, L. A. (2000). Writing as a way of healing: How telling our stories transforms our lives. Boston, MA: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolby, N. E. (2001). Constructing race: Youth, identity, and popular culture in South Africa. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisner, E. W. (1997). The promise and perils of alternative forms of data representation. Educational Researcher, 26(6), 4–10.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Elbow, P. (2000). Everyone can write: Essays toward a hopeful theory of writing and teaching writing. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society (2nd ed.). New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. (Original work published 1950.)

    Google Scholar 

  • Faulkner, S. L. (2007). Concern with craft using Ars Poetica as criteria for reading research poetry. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(2), 218–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Faulkner, S. L. (2016). The art of criteria Ars Criteria as demonstration of vigor in poetic inquiry. Qualitative Inquiry, 1–4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furman, R., & Dill, L. (2015). Extreme data reduction: The case for the research Tanka. Journal of Poetry Therapy, 28(1), 43–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ivanič, R. (1998). Writing and identity: The discoursal construction of identity in academic writing. Amsterdam; Philadelphia, PA: John Benjamins.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henning, E., & Van Rensburg, W. (2002). Academic development in writing composition: Beyond the limitations of a functionalist and pragmatic curriculum. Journal for Language Teaching, 36(1 & 2), 82–90.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johri, A. K. (2015). Multiple narrators: Using double voice poems to examine writing personas. In K. Pithouse-Morgan & A. P. Samaras (Eds.), Polyvocal professional learning through self-study research (pp. 173–196). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Kallaway, P. (Ed.). (2002). The history of education under apartheid, 1948–1994: The doors of learning and culture shall be opened. Cape Town, South Africa: Pearson Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langer, C., & Furman, R. (2004). Exploring identity and assimilation: Research and interpretive poems. Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung / Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 5(2), Article 5. Retrieved from http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/609

  • Madondo, S. (2014). Nurturing learners’ flair for written communication: A teacher’s self-study. Unpublished MEd thesis, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. Retrieved from http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/handle/10413/12626

    Google Scholar 

  • Magubane, S. E. (2014). Cultivating intrinsic motivation for learning Technology: A teacher’s selfstudy. Unpublished MEd thesis, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. Retrieved from http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/handle/10413/12883

    Google Scholar 

  • Mishler, E. G. (1990). Validation in inquiry-guided research: The role of exemplars in narrative studies. Harvard Educational Review, 60, 415–442.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mkhize, N. S. (2016). Integrating cultural inclusivity in a grade 4 classroom: A teacher's self-study. Unpublished MEd thesis, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nash, R. J., & Viray, S. (2014). How stories heal: Writing our way to meaning and wholeness in the academy. New York: Peter Lang.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ndaleni, T. (2013). Teaching English oral communication to IsiZulu-speaking learners in a secondary school: A self-study. Unpublished MEd dissertation, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. Retrieved from http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/handle/10413/11506

    Google Scholar 

  • Palmer, P. J. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pithouse, K. (2003). What is this? What is this? What is this? A teacher’s personal narrative inquiry into a memorable curriculum experience. Unpublished MEd thesis, University of Natal, Durban, South Africa. Retrieved from http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/handle/10413/3686

    Google Scholar 

  • Pithouse, K. (2004). “This gave us a chance to feel like we are authors”: A chapter in my story of learning to teach writing. English Quarterly, 36(10), 15–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pithouse, K. (2005). Self-study through narrative interpretation: Probing lived experiences of educational privilege. In C. Mitchell, S. Weber, & K. O'Reilly-Scanlon (Eds.), Just who do we think we are? Methodologies for autobiography and self-study in teaching (pp. 206–217). London, UK: RoutledgeFalmer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pithouse, K. (2007). Learning through teaching: A narrative self-study of a novice teacher educator. Unpublished PhD thesis, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, South Africa. Retrieved from http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za/xmlui/handle/10413/482

  • Pithouse, K. (2011). “The future of our young children lies in our hands”: Re-envisaging teacher authority through narrative self-study. In C. Mitchell, T. Strong-Wilson, K. Pithouse, & S. Allnutt (Eds.), Memory and pedagogy (pp. 177–190). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pithouse-Morgan, K. (2016). Finding my self in a new place: Exploring professional learning through found poetry. Teacher Learning and Professional Development, 1(1), 1–18. Retrieved from http://journals.sfu.ca/tlpd/index.php/tlpd/article/view/1

    Google Scholar 

  • Pithouse-Morgan, K., De Lange, N., Mitchell, C., Moletsane, R., Olivier, T., Stuart, J., Van Laren, L., & Wood, L. (2013). Creative and participatory strategies for teacher development in the age of AIDS. In J. Kirk, M. Dembélé, & S. Baxter (Eds.), More and better teachers for quality education for all: Identity and motivation, systems and support (pp. 75–90). E-book available online at http://moreandbetterteachers.wordpress.com/: Collaborative Works.

  • Pithouse-Morgan, K., Khau, M., Masinga, L., & Van de Ruit, C. (2012). Letters to those who dare feel: Using reflective letter-writing to explore the emotionality of research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 11(1), 40-56. Retrieved from http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/IJQM/article/view/8255

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pithouse-Morgan, K., & Samaras, A. P. (2015). The power of “we” for professional learning. In K. Pithouse-Morgan & A. P. Samaras (Eds.), Polyvocal professional learning through self-study research (pp. 1–20). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pithouse-Morgan, K., & van Laren, L. (2012). Towards academic generativity: Working collaboratively with visual artefacts for self-study and social change. South African Journal of Education, 32(4), 416–427. Retrieved from www.ajol.info/index.php/saje/article/download/83105/73195

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pithouse-Morgan, K., & Van Laren, L. (2015). Dialogic memory-work as a method to explore the “afterlife” of our self-study doctoral research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 14, 80–97. Retrieved from http://ejournals.library.ualberta.ca/index.php/IJQM/article/view/21070

    Google Scholar 

  • Poets.org. (2004a). Poetic form: Renga. Retrieved from https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poeticform-renga

  • Poets.org. (2004b). Poetic form: Tanka. Retrieved from http://www.poets.org/poetsorg/text/poeticform-tanka

  • Profession. (n.d.) In The online etymology dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=profession

  • Richards, R. (2016). Subject to interpretation: Autoethnography and the ethics of writing about the embodied self. In D. Pillay, I. Naicker, & K. Pithouse-Morgan (Eds.), Academic autoethnographies: Inside teaching in higher education (pp. 163–174). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, L. (1993). Poetics, dramatics, and transgressive validity: The case of the skipped line. The Sociological Quarterly, 34(4), 695–710.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Richardson, L. (2003). Writing: A method of inquiry. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Collecting and interpreting qualitative materials (2nd ed., pp. 499–541). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rigour. (n.d.) In The online etymology dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=&search=rigor

  • Rosenberg, T. (2016). Conversations and the cultivation of self-understanding. In D. Pillay, I. Naicker, & K. Pithouse-Morgan (Eds.), Academic autoethnographies: Inside teaching in higher education (pp. 33–47). Rotterdam, The Netherlands: Sense Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Samaras, A. P., Hicks, M. A., & Berger, J. G. (2004). Self-study through personal history. In J. J. Loughran, M. L. Hamilton, V. K. LaBoskey, & T. Russell (Eds.), International handbook of selfstudy of teaching and teacher education practices (Vol. 2, pp. 905–942). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sand-Jensen, K. (2007). How to write consistently boring scientific literature. Oikos, 116, 723–727.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Van Manen, M. (1990). Researching lived experience: Human science for an action sensitive pedagogy. Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vardi, I. (2011). The impact of iterative writing and feedback on the characteristics of tertiary students’ written texts. Teaching in Higher Education, 1–13.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vigour. (n.d.) In The online etymology dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=&search=vigor

  • Walford, G. (1991). Reflexive accounts of doing educational research. In G. Walford (Ed.), Doing educational research (pp. 1–18). London, UK: Routledge.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Webster-Wright, A. (2009). Reframing professional development through understanding authentic professional learning. Review of Educational Research, 79(2), 702–739.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 Sense Publishers

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Pithouse-Morgan, K. (2017). Beginning to Unravel a Narrative Tension in My Professional Learning about Teaching Writing. In: Hayler, M., Moriarty, J. (eds) Self-Narrative and Pedagogy. Studies in Professional Life and Work. SensePublishers, Rotterdam. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6351-023-3_5

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6351-023-3_5

  • Publisher Name: SensePublishers, Rotterdam

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-6351-023-3

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics