Parallel stories: a way of contextualizing teacher knowledge
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Adopting Clandinin and Connelly's "professional knowledge landscape" metaphor [Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (1994). Personal experience methods. In N. Denzin & Y. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research. London: Sage Publishing, Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (1996). Teachers' professional knowledge landscapes teacher stories - stories of teachers - school stories - stories of school. Educational Researcher, 19(5); 2-14; Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1999). Storied identities. Storied landscapes. New York: Teacher College Press (in press)], Olson's "narrative authority" conceptualization [Olson, M. (1993). Conceptualizing narrative authority in (teacher) education. Unpublished dissertation. Edmonton: University of Alberta; Olson, M. (1995). Conceptualizing narrative authority implications for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 11(2), 119-125], and Craig's notion of "knowledge communities" [Craig, C. J. (1992). Coming to know in the professional knowledge context: beginning teachers' experience Unpublished dissertation. Edmonton: University of Alberta; Craig, C. J. (1995a). Knowledge communities: a way of making sense of how beginning teachers come to know. Curriculum Enquiry, 25(2), 151-175; Craig, C. J. (1995b). Coming to know on the professional knowledge landscape: Benita's first year of teaching. In D. J. Clandinin, & F. M. Connelly (Eds.), Teachers' professional knowledge landscapes. New York: Teachers College Press; Craig, C. J. (1998). The influence of context on one teacher's interpretime knowledge of team teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 14, 4; Craig, C. J. (1999a). Life on the professional knowledge landscape. Living the image of "principal as rebel". In F. M. Connelly, & D. J. Clandinin (Eds.), Storied identities. Storied landscapes. New York: Teachers College Press (in press); Craig, C. J. (1999b). Lessons Students teach. Teaching Education Journal (in press); Craig, C. J. (1999c). Stories of schools/teacher stories: a two part invention on the walls theme. Curriculum Enquiry (in press)], 'parallel stories' is a research method which captures shifts in a beginning teacher's interpretive knowledge as she moved from context to context. The methodology which evolves from Clandinin's narrative method [Clandinin, D. J. (1986). Classroom practice. Teacher images in action. Philadelphia, The Falmer Press] and Craig's 'telling stories' method [Craig, C. J. (1997). Telling stories: a way to access beginning teacher knowledge. Teaching Education Journal, 9, 1]. incorporates two types of meaning recovery: the first variety, collective constructions of 'stories of school' (Clandinin & Connelly, 1996) that differ from building to building; the second variety, personal constructions of teacher stories which vary from context to context. The overview of the parallel stories methodology includes the substantive, theoretical and conceptual understandings that arise from the. inquiry as well as the implications the approach holds for teacher education programs. Suggested topics for future exploration are also offered. 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
