Educating for Democratic Citizenship: A Narrative Inquiry into Teacher Experiences

• Author / Creator

  Paszek, Ted A

• This narrative inquiry was designed to enter into the conversation about what it means to educate for democratic citizenship. The introduction and literature review probe the meanings of democracy and citizenship and the role of education in creating democratic citizens. I used narrative inquiry as the method of exploring what schools and teachers do to develop democratic citizenship in students. The participants were me and three other teachers. I looked for participants who would be willing to investigate their own practice and who were willing to contribute to knowledge in the area of educating for democratic citizenship. This is a study of how we storied ourselves on the professional knowledge landscape within the context of educating for democratic citizenship. This study is situated in the Deweyan view of experience and education. I present four narratives that emerged as a result of research conversations over the time period of a school year. Our conversations were focused on how we work as teachers to foster the democratic spirit. Each of the narratives stands alone as my interpretation of the recorded conversations and my field notes. Each of the participants read a draft of their narrative and gave it his or her approval. Upon rereading the narratives, I saw some common threads, on which I have commented in chapter eight. I have also commented on some individual strands that caught my interest. Chapter eight contains elements of a retelling after the experiences of research conversations, field texts, and composition of the research texts. The final chapter contains further reflections upon my own experiences and the narratives of the three other participants. The theorizing in chapter nine is based upon ideas that emerge out of the whole experience of coursework, literature review, and the encounter with the participants.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Narratives
  • Democracy
  • Citizenship

• Graduation date

  Fall 2012

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3898G

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.