Stories and the Teaching Life
Publication Type:
Web ArticleYear of Publication:
2001URL:
http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/234Abstract:
In "Stories and the Teaching Life," teacher Tim Gillespie recounts the ties between daily writing in his teacher's notebook and his personal and professional need to avoid narratives about teaching that focus on "abstraction, heroism, and complaint." Such narratives, he notes, "have a lot of power in the public sphere. So when I do my own teacher research, when I write in my notebook, and then when I tell and share my classroom stories publicly, I hope I'm doing a little bit to make the story of education in the civic arena slightly more concrete, realistic, and student centered." Gillespie's reflections are a "must" read for any teacher who is weary of the "pernicious power of...negative narratives about teaching." He concludes: "(W)hen I write about my teaching, I'm seeking perspective by keeping my own story of this intense work in all its sorrow and joy, challenge and success. This unvarnished account of my work helps keep me going as a teacher, the habit of writing having become a small ceremony of gratitude for a life of teaching." (National Writing Project website)
Gillespie, T. (2001). Stories and the Teaching Life. The Quarterly 23(4). Retrieved April 30, 2008 from http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/resource/234
