How the lessons we learned become lessons we can learn: Understanding memories of primary school experiences using narrative inquiry

Abstract

This chapter reflects upon the experiences of the methodological journey I undertook to collect and analyse data for my doctoral research. The reflection explains approaches I took to attempt an authentic and open approach to my research which positions the participants (narrators), as co-authors of their stories of their primary school experiences. In this chapter, I have focused on one theme which related to the lessons learned at school, as remembered by the narrators. The paper explains why narrative inquiry is a valuable method to understand experience and how I try to make sense of stories, recognising that narrators remember the stories with recollections, reflections and feelings (affect). I observed how stories needed to be ‘awakened’; they are not simply remembered and retold. Extracts from different stories told by some of the narrators are shared throughout the paper to exemplify the narratives and how I attempted to create a sense of equality in the co-construction of people's narratives. The final reflections demonstrate the lessons I have learned, looking beyond others' ways of approaching narrative research and finding ways to be an authentic researcher. This paper tells the story of what I have discovered in the research process and makes a methodological contribution to the field of narrative inquiry.