Re-Conceptualizing Adolescence Through Young Adult Literature and Critical Narrative Pedagogy
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Entering into Particulars: Re-conceptualizing Adolescence through Young Adult Literature and Critical Narrative Pedagogy Item Type text; Electronic Dissertation Authors Trimble, Celeste Leigh Helen Publisher The University of Arizona. Rights Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. Download date 02/10/2021 19:24:28 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10150/621019 ENTERING INTO PARTICULARS: RE-CONCEPTUALIZING ADOLESCENCE THROUGH YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE AND CRITICAL NARRATIVE PEDAGOGY by Celeste L.H. Trimble _____________________________________________ Copyright © Celeste L.H. Trimble 2016 A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the DEPARTMENT OF TEACHING, LEARNING, AND SOCIOCULTURAL STUDIES In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY WITH A MAJOR IN LANGUAGE, READING, AND CULTURE In the Graduate College THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA 2016 THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA GRADUATE COLLEGE As members of the Dissertation Committee, we certify that we have read the dissertation prepared by Celeste L.H. Trimble, titled Entering Into Particulars: Re-conceptualizing Adolescence Through Young Adult Literature and Critical Narrative Pedagogy and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy. _______________________________________________Date: May 10, 2016 Kathy Short _______________________________________________Date: May 10, 2016 Leisy Wyman _______________________________________________ Date: May 10, 2016 Carol Brochin Final approval and acceptance of this dissertation is contingent upon the candidate’s submission of the final copies of the dissertation to the Graduate College. I hereby certify that I have read this dissertation prepared under my direction and recommend that it be accepted as fulfilling the dissertation requirement. ________________________________________________ Date: May 10, 2016 Dissertation Director: Kathy Short 2 STATEMENT BY AUTHOR This dissertation has been submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of Arizona and is deposited in the University Library to be made available to borrowers under rules of the Library. Brief quotations from this dissertation are allowable without special permission, provided that an accurate acknowledgement of the source is made. Requests for permission for extended quotation from or reproduction of this manuscript in whole or in part may be granted by the head of the major department or the Dean of the Graduate College when in his or her judgment the proposed use of the material is in the interests of scholarship. In all other instances, however, permission must be obtained from the author. SIGNED: Celeste L.H. Trimble 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………7 Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………….….. .8 Youth Lens……………………………………………………………….10 Diversity and representation in YA literature…………………….......….12 Research questions…………………………………………………….…14 A narrative understanding of self…………...….…………………...…... 14 Situating the researcher………………………..………………………....17 Key terms………………………………………………………………...18 Overview of chapters………………………………..………….………..19 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW………………………….……..………… .21 Conceptual framework…………………………………......…………….21 Reader response theories…………….…….……..………...….....22 Critical narrative theories………………..………..…………..….29 Review of Related Literature………………………………..………..….37 Chapter 3: METHODOLOGY……………………………………..………..…52 Context ………………………………………….……………..………...54 Identity …………………………………………………...….…..65 Adolescence and the ‘typical teen’ ………………………...…....67 Censorship and the text-life connection …………………….…...67 Self and representation (diversity in YA) ……………………….71 Self and culture/ethnicity ……………………………..………....73 Self and family ………………………………………..………....76 4 Self and peers/school …………………………………..………..81 Self and gender expression/sexuality …………………..…….….83 Self and trauma …………………….…………………………....85 Self harm and suicide ………………..…………………………..87 Self and anger/protest/change……………………………………88 Final course experiences………………..….…………………….91 Data collection…………………………………….……………..92 Primary data …………………………………………..…………………93 Secondary data ………………………………….…….…………………98 Data analysis………………………...…………….………………...….104 Conclusion…………………………………………………………...…109 Chapter 4: FINDINGS …...…………………………………………………….110 Zekia: Understanding ourselves through understanding others……...…113 Robin: Concurrent windows and mirrors ………………….……...……123 Quinn: Humanization through literature and lifestory …………………134 Ronnie: Biographical learning through shared narratives ……………..144 Francesca: “Stories like that really open your eyes” …………………..150 Cross-case discussion: Peer commentary ……………….……………..156 Discussion……………………………………..………………….…… 163 Narrative Learning is narrative healing….……………………………..168 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS……………………...……175 Overview of chapter …………….…………………………...……...….175 Summary of study ……………….…………………………………..…176 5 Reflection on findings…………………………………………………..178 Implications………………………………………………….………….183 Recommendations for future research………………………….……....191 Conclusion……………………………………………..……………….194 APPENDIX A: COURSE SYLLABUS……..…………...…………….………197 APPENDIX B: MIDTERM REFLECTION..………………..….……………...212 APPENDIX C: FINAL EXAM/REFLECTION..…………….………….……..213 APPENDIX D: CONSENT FORM………………………………...…………..215 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………217 YOUNG ADULT LITERATURE CITED…...…………...…………..………..228 6 ABSTRACT This qualitative multiple case study explores the intersection of young adult literature and adolescent memory narratives in an undergraduate course entitled Learning about Adolescence through Literature within an action research framework. This dissertation is motivated by two research questions: (1) What influence might young adult literature and memory narratives of adolescence have on undergraduate students' understandings of the cultural construction of adolescence? (2) How does the text we read affect how we perceive our lived experiences, and, in turn, how does this interchange of story affect the way in which we perceive adolescence in general? Building upon reader response theories and critical narrative pedagogy, findings indicate that YA literature and lifestory narratives can facilitate reconceptualizing previously held notions of adolescence, replacing pejorative and generalized assumptions regarding adolescence with an openness and acknowledgement of diversity. Implications for teachers and other youth workers are discussed, as well as implications for adolescents. 7 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION During my early years as a classroom teacher, I did not hesitate to express interest in teaching middle school. I remember my own experience middle school as the time when I finally found a circle of friends who understood me. I finally found teachers who could inspire my intellectual curiosity and my admiration. I finally found a way to articulate who I was and who I was becoming. It was a wonderful time, not devoid of pain or confusion or existential angst, but wonderful nevertheless. I also remember my high school years with fondness, but there was something about the advent of my adolescence that is especially tender for me to recollect. However, when I began discussing my interest in teaching middle school, the reactions I experienced were unexpected. “Good luck,” was the most frequent expression. Luck? “Somebody’s got to do it.” “Good for you. Sacrificing for the greater good.” In my mind, it was the early grade teachers who were the heroes of the education world, as I recollected my difficult year teaching a class of first and second graders. Where were these negative associations coming from? Although I had an understanding of a general negativity within conversations surrounding the teen years, I was naïve to think it was a harmless joke or a misunderstood hyperbole. In the introduction to Act Your Age: A Cultural Construction of Adolescence, Lesko (2012) states: “Typically teenagers appear in our cultural talk as synonymous with crazed hormones, as delinquents, deficiencies, or clowns, that is, beings not to be taken too seriously. They are most often spoken of with 8 familiarity, sometimes with affection, and regularly with some hostility or displeasure. In these various venues and with decidedly mixed emotions, we talk about the ‘trouble with teenagers’” (p.1). This negative concept of adolescence is harmful to the identity development of growing adolescents, and harmful as well to the adult community that shares the world with youth. Pre-service teachers, pre-counselors and others who will be working with adolescents in the future come to their jobs with a set of preconceived notions of what adolescence is and who adolescents are which is more based on media stereotypes of the teen years than on actual data (Finders, 1998). Most of these students believe themselves and their friends to be exceptions to negative generalizations of adolescence, but they still believed the stereotypes are correct. However, studies have shown (Rubie- Davies, Hattie, & Hamilton, 2006; Tenenbaum & Ruck, 2007; Wolffe, 1996) that negative expectations beget negative performance. In other words, if these negative stereotypes are not combatted, a majority of those who plan on