ERIC Number: EJ890741
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1550-1175
EISSN: N/A
Once More to the Ocean
O'Connor, John S.
Schools: Studies in Education, v7 n1 p101-110 Spr 2010
The story of students' lives in schools is frequently related through the reductive prism of educational bureaucracy. Students are often narrowly defined by IQ scores, standardized test results, ability groupings, and the like. Such measures are more interested in sorting students into types than in fostering students' growth as unique human beings. I argue for a reconsideration of school through narrative inquiry--soliciting stories from the most important voices in education: students and teachers. Seeking truth through storytelling resists reductive certainties, complicating those simplistic narratives by eliciting stories of life in the classroom and beyond. I seek to empower students to "author" their school lives by situating their education within their lives outside of school. Such practices help students and teachers become more reflective while reinforcing the democratic notion of classroom life as a dialogue between human beings.
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: Students; Teachers
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A