"I feel that I get by with what I do" - Using narrative as a conceptual tool for understanding social identity
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Date
2003
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
School of Education, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Abstract
Drawing on a qualitative study of a cohort of final year preprimary teacher
college students, this paper motivates for narrative analysis as a suitable tool
for accessing ‘insider accounts’ of social reality. Through an analysis of the
voices of these young people, I make the argument that narrative analysis
allows us to develop an explanation of how people interpret their social
locations and personal histories through the discourses and material contexts
to which they have access. I commence by presenting the narrative of
academic performance of one of the social groupings within the cohort. The
material and discursive parameters that framed their narrative account are
outlined. Similarities and differences between individual accounts are
highlighted, and explanations for these similarities and differences posited.
The ways in which multiple social locations nuance identity as nested are
explicated. The paper concludes with a discussion of the potential contribution
of narrative analysis as a conceptual tool for understanding social identity.
Description
Keywords
Narratives, Social action, Teacher education, South Africa
Citation
McMillan, W. (2003) "I feel that I get by with what I do": Using narrative as a conceptual tool for understanding social identity. Journal of Education, 31:111-136