Stories of Men and Teaching: A New Narrative Approach to Understanding Masculinity and Education PDF
Preview Stories of Men and Teaching: A New Narrative Approach to Understanding Masculinity and Education
SPRINGER BRIEFS IN EDUCATION Ian Davis Stories of Men and Teaching A New Narrative Approach to Understanding Masculinity and Education 123 SpringerBriefs in Education TofindoutmoreaboutTeachingMenvisitthewebsiteathttp://www.teachingmen. com.au More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/8914 Ian Davis Stories of Men and Teaching A New Narrative Approach to Understanding Masculinity and Education 123 IanDavis GriffithInstituteof Educational Research Mt. Gravatt,QLD Australia ISSN 2211-1921 ISSN 2211-193X (electronic) ISBN 978-981-287-217-3 ISBN 978-981-287-218-0 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-981-287-218-0 LibraryofCongressControlNumber:2014949338 SpringerSingaporeHeidelbergNewYorkDordrechtLondon ©TheAuthor(s)2015 Thisworkissubjecttocopyright.AllrightsarereservedbythePublisher,whetherthewholeorpartof the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation,broadcasting,reproductiononmicrofilmsorinanyotherphysicalway,andtransmissionor informationstorageandretrieval,electronicadaptation,computersoftware,orbysimilarordissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material supplied specifically for the purposeofbeingenteredandexecutedonacomputersystem,forexclusiveusebythepurchaserof thework.Duplicationofthispublicationorpartsthereofispermittedonlyundertheprovisionsofthe CopyrightLawofthePublisher’slocation,initscurrentversion,andpermissionforusemustalwaysbe obtained from Springer. Permissions for use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright ClearanceCenter.ViolationsareliabletoprosecutionundertherespectiveCopyrightLaw. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publicationdoesnotimply,evenintheabsenceofaspecificstatement,thatsuchnamesareexempt fromtherelevantprotectivelawsandregulationsandthereforefreeforgeneraluse. While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication,neithertheauthorsnortheeditorsnorthepublishercanacceptanylegalresponsibilityfor anyerrorsoromissionsthatmaybemade.Thepublishermakesnowarranty,expressorimplied,with respecttothematerialcontainedherein. Printedonacid-freepaper SpringerispartofSpringerScience+BusinessMedia(www.springer.com) Preface StoriesofMenandTeachingisbasedonathreeyearresearchprojectknownasthe Teaching Men project. Teaching Men was devised to investigate the dynamic relationship between masculinity, fiction and teaching in the service of one central question; how are male teachers influenced by fictional narratives in the con- struction of masculinities within education? The TeachingMenprojectexploredthis question inthree distinct ways.Firstly, by describing a methodological systemofnarrativeanalysisthat isable toaccount fortheinfluenceofafictionaltextalongsideareadingofinterviewdata.Secondly, byfocusing onaspecificcohortofmaleteachersinorder tomeasure theinfluence ofafictionaltext,illustratingpossibilitiesofhowmasculinitycanbeenactedwithin education. Finally, by assessing how the narrative nature of critical reflective practice enables the integration offictional texts, and the literary tropes they con- tain, both widening and restricting perceptions of teachers and teaching. The Teaching Men project demonstrated how fictional narratives and their encom- passing ideologies can become a powerful force in the shaping of male teachers’ professional identities. The Teaching Men project mapped the analysis of complex biographical nar- ratives captured in interviews with a group of teachers in London (the UK) and Brisbane (Australia). As part of the analysis Teaching Men pilots an innovative methodologicalprocesswhichaimstomanagethestructuralandtextualdifferences betweenfictionaltextsandinterviewdatainanefforttofindpointsofcommonality and influence across both. This methodology is derived from Paul Ricoeur’s con- ceptualisationofnarrated time andthree-foldmimesis inconjunctionwith Deleuze and Guattari’s notion of event and concept. It is by using both of these theories, transposed into a methodology, that enables an interpretation of interview data alongside the fictional texts and related tropes. Teaching Men uncovered how teaching professionals utilise tropes found in fictional texts in chaotic and unstructured ways to manage points of professional intensityastheyarise.Keyfeaturessuchaslegacy,fear,belonging,reparationand violenceare identified asthemesthat occupymaleteachers when considering their identity and professional performance. Each of these key features is also v vi Preface represented in the fictional teacher text canon and therefore also within the tax- onomy. Within the analysis of the interview data it becomes possible to suggest where and how teachers are using tropes that have originated within fictional narratives, to manage the story of their own workplace. Teaching Men therefore offers two significant points of guidance for the pro- fession. Firstly, it encourages an acknowledgement of the influence of fictional tropes within teacher education and specifically in relation to the use of critical reflection.Secondly,itenablesmaleteachers,bothpre-serviceaswellasthosewho are established professionals, to explore how they perform masculinities within their work place, how in fact they are becoming teaching men. To find out more about Teaching Men visit the website at http://www. teachingmen.com.au. Acknowledgments Completing a research project and an accompanying book is a protracted and challenging task. Research and writing are very much a team event, during my journey I have encountered a cast of characters who have all played their part in progressingtheprojectanditsaims.Someoftheseareexpectedsuchascolleagues, students, family and friends whilst others, such as pets, feature as a surprise. Firstly,Iwouldliketoofferaspecialnoteofthankstoallwhohaveparticipated intheresearch;theTeachingMennineteenfromboththeUKandAustralia—your opennessandtrustistheonlyfactorthathasmadethisstudypossibleandforthatI heartily thank you. Ihavebeenveryfortunateregardingtheinputfromcolleaguesduringthelifeof the project from Sydney University. I would like to thank Elspeth Probyn and Raewyn Connell and from Queensland Scott Harrison whose critique of mascu- linities through example and scholarship taught me how todo thesame. Finallyto Greer Johnson, whose support throughout this process, as mentor, manager, a co- writerandafellownarrativescholarhasbeeninspirational.Otherstothank,Sorrel Penn Edwards, Jennifer Germon, Viv McGregor, Mark Vicars, Rachel Dwyer, Jodie Taylor and to the Finishing School. I thank all the students I have taught in London,SydneyandBrisbaneforhelpingmewithyourideasandyourimagination and for those of you that feature in these pages, an extra thanks. To family and friends:PapaJ,O,M&Pwhoalwaysaskedhowthingswere.ToBrisbanefriends JJK,D,F&MwhohaveremainedstalwartthroughoutandfinallytoBillforyour support, optimism, intellect and heart. IwouldliketodedicatethisbooktomymotherHeatherDaviswhodidnotseeit finished.WhenIwasfour, onawetSundayafternoon inWeymouth,youtookme to the picture Goodbye Mr. Chips—thanks Mum! April 2014 Ian Davis vii Contents Part I Tools and Environments 1 Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 Personal and Professional Significance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Personal Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Bedminster, Bristol 1969 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Personal Narratives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Professional Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Research Focus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Scope and Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 2 The Research Environment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Narrative—A Matter of Context . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Masculinity/Masculinities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Perspectives on Gender: Masculinity, Masculinities and Gender. . . . . . 13 Masculinities—A New Hegemony. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Teacher Education and Critical Reflective Practice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 The Intersections. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Intersection A: Narrative and Masculinity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Intersection B: Narrative and Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Intersection C: Masculinity and Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Boys and Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 Teachers and the Institution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 3 Theory, Types and Tropes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Desire in the Teacher Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Emerging Methods and Application. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 A Hermeneutic Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 ix x Contents The Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Fact and Fiction: Designing a Theory Fit for Purpose. . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Using Ricoeur: Developing a Taxonomy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 Literary Analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Developing a Taxonomy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31 Using Deleuze: Concepts and Becomings. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Part II Stories of Teaching Men 4 Stories of Teaching. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 The Narrative Interview Process . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 The Analytical Process. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Story 1: Deleuze and Multiple Tropes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Stuart. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 Stuart and Multiple Tropes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Stuart—Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Story 2: Fear and Reflection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Tom. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Tom and the Fear of Reflection. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Tom—Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Story 5: Sydney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Sydney. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 Sydney a Singular Trope. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Sydney—Summary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53 5 Methodological Innovation, Masculinities and Critical Reflective Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Methodological Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Masculinities in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Critical Reflective Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 6 Endings, Beginnings and Becomings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 My Mr. Mulberry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Influential Agents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Future Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Narrative Endings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67 Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69 References. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
The list of books you might like
