This essay proposes a pedagogical approach to writing instruction in universities facing familiar institutional goals and barriers alongside the heightened emotional complexities of students post-pandemic. Students at these universities often pursue vocational paths, yet since spring 2020, their interpersonal and cultural challenges have deepened,…

This manuscript describes an inquiry into preservice teachers' (PSTs) experiences composing a digital story around the concept of adolescent literacy as part of an English language arts methods course built on critical literacy and critical inquiry traditions. Part of the assignment was to examine adolescent literacy "in these times,"…

Although TESOL educators often incorporate autobiographical narrative as pedagogy to develop language and literacy among language learners, research has paid little attention to how immigrant youths' personal stories relate to advocacy and social justice. This article addresses this gap by investigating and theorizing how student advocacy…

High school teachers Gallagher and Kittle describe a 9-week unit on writing a narrative they created (and taught at their respective schools) that gave students many chances to practice different elements of writing a story. Their unit "spiraled" students back to key skills at each step, giving extended writing practice often lacking in…

This commentary seeks to encourage reflection upon learning and teaching through story. The authors illustrate ways they have used story in their teaching and what they perceive as the benefits of doing so. They explore how they learned through narrative as children and why they came to value it as a way of seeing and thinking. Then they consider…

As a researcher, I am seeking a mode of inquiry that would allow for a reflection on mindfulness and the role it plays in curriculum and learning. Needing to merge my personal voice with the diverse educational landscape, I found that poetic storytelling allowed me to "present possibilities for understanding the complex, mysterious, even…

Objective: Digital storytelling and other methods of self-expression and autobiography have become an increasingly important tool for those working with young people, including those from migrant, refugee or other 'culturally diverse' backgrounds. A structured scoping review was undertaken to better understand the potential value and challenges of…

This article explores the critical digital practices and pedagogies of two novice teacher educators. Employing self-study research methodologies, we examine our collaborations and integrations of critical digital practices into two literacy methods teacher education courses. Seeking to emphasize the 'critical' aspects of critical digital…

Memoir covers narrative, informative, and persuasive writing, which are described in the Common Core State Standards: College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing (CCRA.W). Memoirs are narrative memories told through rich description, dialogue, setting, and characters; and they are based on true stories (CCSS. ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.3).…

In this paper I reflect on epiphany moments in teaching and learning and the ways in which writing such moments can serve both to refresh and revitalise what Palmer calls the inner landscape of the educator, while also offering opportunities to enliven pedagogy. I use the notion of the liminal disposition to position such writing as an agentic act…

This paper evaluates the potential efficacy of using life writing to address mental health disparities and to promote health and well-being among young LGBTIQA+ persons. It examines the potential benefits of young LGBTIQA+ people engaging with life writing including memoir, autobiography, creative nonfiction, journaling and digital storytelling.…

Stories matter, and the stories we tell ourselves matter most. Truth has many layers and narrative helps us makes senses of our multilayered reality. We live a personal narrative that is grounded in our past experience, but embodied in our present. As such, it filters what we see and how we interpret events. Attachment theorists tell us our early…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze and interpret the stories told by one teacher, Ms. M, in a fifth grade science classroom. In this study, stories are defined as teacher utterances that are used in first person or third person narrative view, and are related to an experience that occurred outside the classroom. This research…

The emotional dimension of teaching and learning from the perspective of the teacher and learner in adult education is considered in this paper by means of an autoethnographic story written as an approach to reflective practice. The genre of autoethnography allows for the personal and the autobiographical as a legitimate site for research into…

This study examined the effects of the digital storytelling experience of beginning pre-service teachers on their self-efficacy in educational technology and disposition toward change with regard to new technological approaches to teaching. A total of 76 freshmen participated in the study. After participating in a brief tutorial session, the…