The Limits of Narratives in Understanding Teacher Thinking

Researchers have argued that narrative provides insight into teachers' thinking and a model for the storage of knowledge about teaching. Concurrently, however, there are numerous cautions about using narratives as data sources. The present study addresses two problems: the limits of narrative as a data source and the feasibility of productively analyzing narratives. It also addresses the question of whether teachers actually store information as narratives. For the study, 23 deaf or hearing teachers of the Deaf participating in a project on integrating technology into teaching were interviewed about their experiences as teachers in general and in using technology in the classroom in particular. They rarely generated stories spontaneously. Rather, responses were related to the nature of the stimulus question. For example, when asked about their "worst class," teachers did not provide complete narratives but instead gave responses containing problems without resolutions. The study results suggest that teachers do not store information about teaching as narratives, but nonetheless can expertly construct narratives when given the right opportunity.