Working Autobiography”—
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“WORKING AUTOBIOGRAPHY”— EXPLORING THE (IM)POSSIBILITIES OF (RE)PRESENTING “CURRICULUM” AND TEACHER “NARRATIVES” by Patricia Mito Gibson Dissertation Committee: Professor Janet Miller, Sponsor Professor Haeny S. Yoon Approved by the Committee on the Degree of Doctor of Education Date May 16, 2018 Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Education in Teachers College, Columbia University 2018 ABSTRACT “WORKING AUTOBIOGRAPHY”— EXPLORING THE (IM)POSSIBILITIES OF (RE)PRESENTING “CURRICULUM” AND TEACHER “NARRATIVES” Patricia Mito Gibson Qualitative research around teachers’ interpreted “experiences” has contributed to an increase and legitimization of “voice” and “experience” of those who have traditionally been excluded from research. Narrative inquiry in the form of autobiography has been utilized as one mode of inquiry to represent such teacher stories. However, such research that attempts to “capture” these “experiences” assume “experience” as fact and transparent, thus neglecting to acknowledge the idea that the “self” is constructed and mediated through discourse and power relations. Furthermore, many conceptualizations around “curriculum” focus on curriculum as “course of study” and neglect to recognize the ways in which “experience” intersects with “curriculum” and how this is manifested in daily school contexts. This inquiry explored the intersections of teachers’ interpreted “experiences” and how their understandings of their professional identities, if at all, spill into their understandings of “curriculum” based on conceptualizations of “curriculum” as discourse. Working from feminist poststructural orientations towards discourse, subjectivity and power, this qualitative inquiry took a particular event in Japan as an entry point and explored if and how teacher’s interpreted “experiences” and their understandings of their “selves” shifted, contradicted, and/or collided and, at times, impacted their understandings of the “curriculum.” Drawing from poststructurally inflected understandings of narrative inquiry, this inquiry explored how specific teachers spoke of their educator “experiences” in relation to their current circumstances of teaching in displacement following a series of natural and man-made disasters, and how they conceptualized “curriculum” in relation to their interpreted “experiences.” Through qualitative data collection and analysis informed by and interrogated by feminist poststructural assumptions, I attempted to trouble how I understood “data” and chose to represent these “data” throughout. Such troublings stemmed from what some qualitative researchers have called the “crisis in representation.” More specifically, through autobiography as one mode of narrative inquiry as self-reflexive practice and processes that I sought to “trouble” from poststructural perspectives, I grappled with the “crisis in representation” throughout this inquiry as I explored and challenged the limits of transparent notions of “experience” and “self.” © Copyright Patricia Mito Gibson 2018 All Rights Reserved ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Within the last few years of engaging with and through this dissertation, many individuals have impacted the ways in which I understood, understand, and continue to grapple with my own attachments to the already familiar. I am grateful to the teachers, administrators, and friends who have agreed to share their experiences as well as their stories with me. I am inspired by their courage, love for teaching, and care for their students. I am indebted to my dissertation committee members Professor Janet Miller and Professor Haeny Yoon. I am also grateful to my defense committee members Professor Detra Price-Dennis and Professor Christine Baron. Thank you for your feedback as well as pointing towards a possible continued engagement with this work. Professor Miller, you pushed and challenged me in ways I could not imagine possible but you were right there next to me throughout this exhilarating doctoral exploration. Thank you for your encouragement, patience, and listening ear when at times my life seemed unclear. Professor Yoon, you too have been by my side throughout this process. Without your support and belief in me, I would not have been able to write this here to express my gratitude. My deepest gratitude and appreciation to all professors who have influenced, touched, and impacted me in ways that I never imagined possible before this doctoral experience. I also would like to thank Samantha, who has been a mentor and inspiration for me throughout these years. I have learnt the art of smiling even when situations are difficult in front of me. Thank you for all your support, friendship, mentorship, and guidance. iii To my C&T cohort. Yes, I was the last one to arrive to class and the first one to leave class. But you were always there for me even when I found it hard to open my heart to you. My heart fills with joy thinking of each and every one of you. And my “Dissertation Editing Group”—nothing but love for you. Connie and Aya. I did it. Finally. Done. やったよ! チャーちゃん。卒業ちょっと遅れちゃったね。でもやっと卒業だよ。来世 もチャーちゃんの孫として色々な世界をチャーちゃんと見たいな。 ママ。どんな時も私が一番聞きたいこと、聞かなければいけないことを言 ってくれますよね。時には心にぐさっとくる。でも、ママがいたからここまで来 れた。チャーちゃんとママがいたからここまで来れた。ありがとう。 Recognizing these tellings are partial, I owe my sincere gratitude to so many more. You know who you are because you were one of the first people I called or texted when I defended this dissertation. Love to you all. P.M.G. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PROCESSION ............................................................................................................... viii I—INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................... 1 Background of Context ........................................................................................ 5 Shifts in Japanese Education .................................................................... 5 Normalizing the Safety Discourses .......................................................... 8 Statement of Problem ........................................................................................... 11 “Curriculum” Reconceptualized .............................................................. 12 “Complicated Conversations” .................................................................. 15 Rationale for the Study ........................................................................................ 18 Statement of Purpose and Research Questions .................................................... 20 Research Questions .................................................................................. 20 Conceptual Framework ........................................................................................ 22 The Subject and the “I” ............................................................................ 22 Poststructural Perspectives on Discourse ................................................. 25 The Subject and “Experience” ................................................................. 28 Researcher Role(s)/Positionalities ....................................................................... 33 Summary .............................................................................................................. 35 II—CURRICULUM IN CONTEXT ............................................................................... 37 Education in “Post-Crisis” Contexts .................................................................... 39 “Curriculum” As It Relates to Textbooks ................................................ 42 “Curriculum” As It Relates to “Experience” and “Self” ......................... 46 “Curriculum” As It Relates to Inequities ................................................. 51 Teachers in “Post-Crisis” Contexts ...................................................................... 54 Troubling “Curriculum” and “Experience” ......................................................... 59 “Curriculum” as Discourse ...................................................................... 63 Interdependency—An Inquiry Within and Without ............................................ 66 INTERLUDE—IN ANTICIPATION OF AN ENCOUNTER ........................................ 68 III—METHODOLOGICAL CONCERNS AND RESEARCH PROCESS .................... 70 Enlightenment Versions of Narrative Inquiry ...................................................... 70 Feminist Poststructural Critiques of Narrative Inquiry ............................ 73 The Reconceptualization of “Curriculum” and Autobiography .......................... 75 Feminist Poststructural Versions of Autobiography ................................ 77 Confronting the Crisis of Representation ............................................................ 79 “Validity” ................................................................................................. 81 “Uncomfortable Reflexivity” ................................................................... 83 Miller’s Exploration of Transnational Flows and Mobilities: Working Autobiographically .................................................................................. 84 Data Collection .................................................................................................... 86 Elements of “Data” Constructed .............................................................. 87 v III (continued) Study Participants ...............................................................................................