International Journal of Educational Narratives

Community Wisdom in the Classroom: Oral Histories as Pedagogical Tools in Brazilian Indigenous Schools

Clara Mendes — 2025-04-20

Background. The effectiveness of oral corrective feedback (OCF) in language learning is influenced by learners’ comprehension and response to various OCF techniques. Therefore, it is essential for teachers to consider learners’ preferences for OCF strategies.

Purpose. This quantitative study aimed to investigate the preferences of Thai as a foreign language (TFL) learner for ten commonly discussed types of OCF. Specifically, it examined whether these preferences are influenced by four learner variables: proficiency level, first language (L1), foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), and foreign language enjoyment (FLE).

Method. The study involved 288 university students from Chinese, Japanese, and Korean TFL settings, and the data from questionnaires were analysed using appropriate statistical methods.

Results. The findings indicate that, regardless of proficiency level, L1, FLCA, or FLE level, learners prefer more explicit OCF techniques, such as metalinguistics feedback and explicit correction. However, Korean undergraduates scored lower in the majority of OCF strategies (i.e., ignoring, elicitation, recast, explanation, and public feedback) compared to the other participants.

Conclusion. This study has significant implications for instructional practices in TFL settings and for L2 lecturers in the classroom. By understanding learners’ preferences for OCF, educators can tailor their instructional approaches to meet the specific needs of their students.

Telling the Land: Aboriginal Educational Narratives and Curriculum Integration in Australian Schools

Oliver Harris — 2025-04-20

Background. Efforts to meaningfully integrate Aboriginal perspectives into Australian school curricula remain uneven and contested, often constrained by systemic limitations and a lack of culturally informed pedagogical frameworks. Aboriginal narratives, particularly those tied to Country, embody holistic systems of knowledge that challenge Western linear constructions of curriculum and offer alternative modes of understanding land, identity, and education.

Purpose. This study explores how Aboriginal educational narratives are interpreted and integrated into curriculum practice by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous educators across diverse Australian school settings.

Method. Employing a qualitative, multi-site case study approach, the research involved interviews with 22 educators and curriculum leaders, alongside analysis of classroom materials and reflective teaching journals.

Results. The findings reveal that successful integration depends on deep, relational engagement with community knowledge holders, an ethic of cultural humility, and a willingness to reconfigure disciplinary boundaries. Educators who engaged in collaborative curriculum-making reported greater confidence in embedding Indigenous perspectives in ways that respect narrative sovereignty and pedagogical integrity.

Conclusion. The study concludes that Aboriginal storytelling offers not only content but a method—transforming curriculum into a site of shared responsibility, ethical dialogue, and place-based learning.

Reflections on Teaching in Times of Crisis: Narrative Analysis of Urban Educators During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Sarah Brown — 2025-04-20

Background. The COVID-19 pandemic profoundly disrupted global education systems, forcing teachers to adapt to remote instruction, shifting expectations, and heightened emotional demands. Urban educators, in particular, faced layered challenges including technological inequity, socio-emotional strain, and intensified community needs.

Purpose. This study explores how urban teachers experienced and responded to the crisis by analyzing their personal narratives of teaching during the pandemic.

Method. Using a qualitative narrative analysis approach, the study collected data from 26 K–12 educators in three major metropolitan districts in the United States. Participants submitted reflective essays and engaged in semi-structured interviews between June and October 2021.

Results. The findings reveal recurring themes of professional identity redefinition, emotional exhaustion, pedagogical innovation, and relational resilience. Teachers described a tension between systemic inadequacies and personal commitment, often framing their roles as both educators and emotional caregivers. Despite institutional constraints, many developed adaptive strategies that centered student well-being and equity.

Conclusion. The study concludes that narrative inquiry provides essential insight into the lived complexities of teaching during crisis and underscores the need for systemic support structures that honor teachers’ emotional labor and professional agency.

From Isolation to Innovation: Narrative Self-Study of Teachers Adopting Digital Pedagogies in Remote Canadian Regions

Olivia Davis — 2025-04-20

Background. Teachers in remote Canadian regions have historically faced challenges related to geographic isolation, limited access to professional development, and infrastructural disparities. The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the demand for digital pedagogies, forcing educators in these contexts to rapidly adopt unfamiliar technologies and reconfigure their instructional practices.

Purpose. This study investigates how teachers in remote areas navigated this transition through a narrative self-study lens.

Method. Using qualitative methodology, five educators from rural provinces in Northern Canada engaged in self-reflective journaling and peer dialogue over a nine-month period. Thematic analysis of the narratives revealed key tensions between professional isolation and digital empowerment, as well as shifts in teacher identity, agency, and pedagogical innovation.

Results. Participants described initial resistance, technological uncertainty, and emotional fatigue, which gradually evolved into adaptive strategies, collaborative learning, and renewed professional purpose. The findings highlight how digital transformation, though initially disruptive, served as a catalyst for reflective growth and community-building in marginalized teaching environments.

Conclusion. The study concludes that narrative self-study can be a powerful tool for supporting teacher resilience, agency, and innovation, especially in geographically and technologically constrained settings.

Digital Storytelling and STEM Identity: A Narrative Inquiry of Female High School Students in Japan

Kaito Tanaka — 2025-04-20

Background. Despite Japan’s global reputation for technological innovation, female representation in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields remains disproportionately low. Cultural expectations, gender norms, and limited role models contribute to the underrepresentation of young women in STEM pathways.

Purpose. This study explores how digital storytelling can serve as a transformative pedagogical tool to support the development of STEM identity among female high school students in Japan.

Method. Using a qualitative narrative inquiry approach, the study engaged 15 female students aged 16–18 from three urban high schools. Participants created and reflected on personal digital stories that connected their lived experiences with STEM-related aspirations, interests, or challenges.

Results. Data were collected through digital artifacts, in-depth interviews, and reflective journals, then analyzed thematically. Findings reveal that digital storytelling enabled participants to articulate their evolving sense of agency, challenge internalized gender stereotypes, and envision themselves in future STEM careers. The process fostered increased confidence, self-recognition as potential STEM contributors, and a sense of belonging in scientific discourse.

Conclusion. This study demonstrates the potential of narrative-based, multimodal learning tools in reshaping STEM identity formation for underrepresented groups. It contributes to feminist pedagogy and STEM education research through the intersection of narrative, identity, and digital media.

Education in Times of War: Narrative Accounts of Displacement and Continuity in Ukrainian Schools

Dmytro Ivanov — 2025-04-20

Background. The ongoing conflict in Ukraine has disrupted the educational landscape, displacing students, teachers, and families while threatening the continuity of learning across the country. Amidst the instability of war, Ukrainian schools have demonstrated remarkable resilience, adapting pedagogical approaches and redefining the meaning of education under crisis.

Purpose. This study explores how educators and students experience and respond to displacement, loss, and continuity in war-affected regions of Ukraine. Using a qualitative narrative methodology.

Method. the research draws on in-depth interviews with 18 teachers and 12 students from internally displaced and frontline communities. Participants shared stories of interrupted schooling, digital adaptation, emotional trauma, and communal support.

Results. The findings reveal that while infrastructural damage and psychological stress hinder formal instruction, educators and learners have found ways to preserve educational values through flexible delivery methods, psychosocial initiatives, and community-driven learning spaces. Schools emerged not only as academic institutions but as emotional anchors and symbols of national identity.

Conclusion. The study highlights the importance of narrative as a tool for documenting lived experiences and advocating for education continuity in conflict zones.

Ethical Dilemmas in the Classroom: A Narrative Approach to Professional Ethics in Indian Teacher Education

Aditi Verma — 2025-04-20

Background. Professional ethics is a critical yet often underexplored dimension in teacher education, particularly in contexts where cultural, institutional, and systemic challenges intersect. In India, where educators regularly face value conflicts in classrooms—ranging from caste discrimination to gender norms and curriculum constraints—there is a growing need to address how ethical dilemmas are experienced and navigated by pre-service teachers.

Purpose. This study explores ethical decision-making in teacher education through a narrative inquiry approach, focusing on the lived experiences of student-teachers across four Indian teacher training institutes.

Method. A total of 28 participants engaged in reflective journaling and semi-structured interviews, recounting ethical tensions encountered during practicum or coursework. Thematic narrative analysis revealed recurring dilemmas related to authority, bias, institutional silence, and cultural contradiction.

Results. Participants often expressed uncertainty, emotional distress, and conflict between personal values and institutional expectations. However, the process of narrating these experiences also served as a reflective tool, enabling critical ethical reasoning and professional growth.

Conclusion. The study concludes that narrative reflection can be a transformative pedagogical strategy in teacher education, fostering ethical sensitivity and professional identity development in complex educational environments.

Narratives of Inclusion: Story-Based Reflections on Special Education Practices in Finnish Primary Schools

Juha Laaksonen — 2025-04-20

Background. Inclusive education in Finland has long been recognized as a global model for equity and student-centered practices. However, less is known about the lived experiences of teachers, students, and families within these systems.

Purpose. This study aims to explore the dynamics of inclusion in Finnish primary schools through narrative inquiry, focusing on story-based reflections that illuminate the practical realities of special education implementation.

Method. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted in-depth interviews and collected reflective journals from 12 educators and 5 special education coordinators across three municipalities in Finland. The narratives were analyzed thematically to uncover both enabling conditions and challenges in daily inclusive practices.

Results. Findings reveal a strong commitment to inclusion supported by multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), yet tensions remain in workload management, inter-professional collaboration, and cultural diversity responsiveness. Participants’ stories underscore the importance of empathy, flexibility, and sustained professional development in cultivating inclusive classrooms.

Conclusion. This study contributes to the broader discourse on inclusive education by emphasizing the role of personal and professional storytelling as a medium for reflective practice and policy insight. The research highlights the significance of listening to practitioners’ voices in shaping meaningful, context-sensitive inclusive education strategies.

Use of Demonstration Experiments in Teaching Molecular Physics in General Secondary Schools

Dehqonova Dehqonova — 2025-04-20

Background. The topics of the molecular physics department study the main fundamental demonstration experiments that confirm the existence of atoms and molecules and their movement.

Purpose. These experiments make it possible to determine physical quantities such as the size, mass, speed and concentration of atoms and molecules. The existence of atoms and molecules is no longer just a hypothesis, but is concrete evidence confirmed by the experimental and practical activities of people.

Method. In school conditions, it is an important educational task to provide new knowledge using experimental methods with the help of available tools and equipment to form these facts in the minds of students.

Results. Also, experiments are important for a deeper explanation of the theory in topics such as hydrostatic pressure and pressure transmission in liquids.

Conclusion. The article deepens the theoretical foundations of molecular physics and hydrostatic pressure, highlights the role of demonstration and laboratory experiments in teaching these topics, and provides information about modern experiments.

Developing Moderate Islamic Education: Special Reference to Al-Daghasyi’s Thought and Its Contextualization in Indonesia

Sabarudin Sabarudin — 2025-04-20

Background. One of the main agendas for promoting a harmonious life in a diverse society strengthening religious moderation, which has become a priority program of the government. The agenda for enhancing religious moderation should receive widespread attention from intellectuals in this country as part of their commitment to addressing the serious threat of intolerance and extremism: radicalism and liberalism.

Purpose. This study tries to contribute to the reinforcement of religious moderation through literary explorations concerning the concept of moderate Islamic education. Considering that many similarities in the context of the dynamics of actual problems in this country with those, national and global as reflected in al-Daghasyi’s thoughts

Method. This research was a study of al-Daghasyi’s educational thoughts through literary explorations which were then positioned as a dialogue partner to formulate the significant concept for the development of moderate Islamic education. The thoughts were contextualized with the reality in Indonesia.

Results. According to al-Daghasyi, when education is based on moderate Islam, it will play an important role in preventing deviant attitudes and behaviours, such as intolerance and extremism, namely al-ifr?th and al-tafrîth (liberalism and radicalism). al-Daghasyi states that issues in Islam that cause differences of opinion among Muslims and do not trigger conflict and hostility can be considered religious issues.

Conclusion. This study has significant implications for instructional practices in The real endeavor does not involve weapon confrontations but fundamentally deals with preventing warfare and injustice through peaceful means, especially moderate Islamic education.