Traditional dissertations aiming to illuminate the landscapes of education are often too poorly written to have far-reaching readership. This book examines the inner workings of a doctoral course focused on teaching qualitative researchers strong narrative writing. By the time doctoral students finish their dissertation research, bolstered by theoretical grounding and time in the field, they are in a unique position to offer insights about education that should be heard in the public arena, not just during dissertation defenses. For this to happen, doctoral students need to know how to achieve their writerly goals. This book focuses on helping doctoral students and all qualitative researchers do just that. It is also an excellent resource for professors teaching narrative writing. Readers will learn how to use narrative writing to "tell the story in the data" so their research will be read and potentially infuse policy decisions with the complexity such considerations deserve. Book Features: Assists students and qualitative researchers with writing research in an engaging and informative manner. Focuses on the craft and ethics of writing as an essential constituent of good research. Offers practical guidance appropriate for self-study or for professors of education who teach writing.
Caroline Heller is a professor and director of the individually designed PhD specialization at the Graduate School of Education, Lesley University.
Contents Foreword David T. Hansen ? vii Acknowledgments ?xi Introduction: The Seminar That Inspired This Book Caroline Heller ?1 Seminar Syllabus: Narrative Writing for Qualitative Researchers, Spring, 2019 ?7 1. ?Invitations and Permissions: Consider the Meatball ?19 Krysta Betit 2. ?Before, Between, and Beyond: Communicating Meaning ?24 Garo Saraydarian (followed by drafts of paper by Garo) 3. ?Finding the Story in the Data ?39 Denise Mytko (followed by drafts of papers by Denise and Thelma Goldberg) 4. ?The River Is Wide ?51 Rebecca Redlon (followed by drafts of paper by Rebecca) 5. ?Meaning Through Journeying ?65 Krysta Betit (followed by art work and drafts of chapter by Krysta) 6. ?Representational Adequacy: Bringing My Scene to Life ?78 Jeanne Lima 7. ?Finding Narrative Gifts in Film ?89 Allison Horvath-Tucker 8. ?Number Our Days: A Study of Community ?95 Thelma Goldberg (followed by drafts of paper by Garo Saraydarian) 9. ?Sweetgrass: A Chance to Feel ?112 Avigail Shimshoni 10. ?Envisioning and Embracing ?124 Kat Marsh (followed by drafts of paper by Kat) 11. ?Wrong Question and Finding and Writing the Angle of an Interview ?145 Kat Marsh (followed by drafts of paper by Kat) 12. ?Circle of Trust: Vulnerabilities Carefully Rendered ?160 Rebecca Redlon and Garo Saraydarian Appendixes of Seminar Handouts Appendix A: Revision Worksheet ?171 Appendix B: Taming the Chaos of Your Data ?173 Appendix C: Thoughts on Characterization ?177 Appendix D: Sentiment and Sentimentality ?179 Appendix E: Objective Correlative: T. S. Eliot ?181 Index ?183 About the Contributors ?187
