The purpose of this teacher research study was to examine narrative inquiry as a method for student engagement with course material and the local community. This study sought to understand how students perceived themselves within Mexican American history. While a number of studies have used oral history and narrative effectively, these studies have largely focused on establishing a counter narrative to challenge the images in mainstream media. To date no studies have asked students to use narrative inquiry as a tool to critically examine history as written by Chicana/o and Mexican American scholars. This study used a qualitative approach. Participants' responses to research questions were based on four main data sources: (a) personal I.D. cards, (b) narrative essays, (c) culminating essays, and (d) dialogues with participants after the conclusion of the term. The results of this study revealed that participants felt that narrative inquiry was very useful in clarifying their own ethnic identity. In addition, writing narratives early in the semester provided an important platform for student engagement with course material. Nevertheless, narrative inquiry did not strengthen their critique of the course textbook. Even though students were reticent to critique the textbook, narrative inquiry did help build a sense of caring and responsibility to each other and their community. This study expands the body of knowledge related to narrative inquiry. Previously this methodology had not been used to gather social science data about a class, and having that same class use its self-generated data to analyze and critique historical sources. The results of this study indicate that the narrative inquiry process can be successfully employed to engage students in their own learning. Moreover, the process also provides an example of in-class practices that place students at the center of learning in a democratized setting. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]