Engaging in Narrative Inquiries with Children and Youth

Renowned scholar and founder of the practice of narrative inquiry, D. Jean Clandinin, and her coauthors provide researchers with the theoretical underpinnings and processes for conducting narrative inquiry with children and youth. Exploring the unique ability of narratives to elucidate the worldview of research subjects, the authors highlight the unique steps and issues of working with these special populations. The authors

• address key ethical issues of anonymity and confidentiality, the relational issues of co-composing field and research texts with subjects, and working within the familial contexts of children and youth;
• include numerous examples from the authors’ studies and others – many from indigenous communities-- to show narrative inquiry in action;
• should be invaluable to researchers in education, family relations, child development, and children’s health and services.

D. Jean Clandinin is professor and founding director of the Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development at the University of Alberta and one of the pioneers of narrative inquiry. A former teacher, counselor, and psychologist, she is author or coauthor of eighteen books and numerous articles. Clandinin received the 1993 AERA Early Career Award, the 1999 Canadian Education Association Whitworth Award for educational research, the 2001 Kaplan Research Achievement Award, and a 2004 Killam Scholar. She also won the 2008 Larry Beauchamp Award, the 2009 Killam Mentoring Award, and the 2010 Graduate Teaching Award at the University of Alberta. She was awarded the American Educational Research Association Division B Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002, the 2013 Division K Lifetime Achievement Award, and served as Division B vice president.
Vera Caine is an associate professor in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta and a Canadian Institute for Health New Investigator. Her research focuses on life-course perspectives in the area of health equity and social justice, particularly when it comes to advancing health equity for people whose lives are affected by HIV, poverty, social exclusion, and discrimination. Using a visual narrative inquiry approach, Vera worked in close relation with five urban aboriginal women, exploring their lives with HIV. Vera has also engaged in research alongside nurses, women at risk for or living with HIV during their early mothering experience, and, most recently, alongside children who are at risk for sexual exploitation. She is involved in sustaining and developing initiatives that reflect primary health care, value interdisciplinary work, and advocate health equity.
Sean Lessard is from Montreal Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6 territory. He is a former teacher, counselor, and consultant, working within both urban and community settings. His research interests include indigenous youth, narrative inquiry, curriculum studies, and early school leaving. Sean is currently an associate professor in the Faculty of Education at the University of Alberta. His most recent research collaboration revolves around the intergenerational experiences of urban Aboriginal youth in an after-school program.
Janice Huber is associate professor and director for the Centre for Research for Teacher Education and Development at the University of 238 Alberta. Since 2001 Janice has been engaged in graduate and undergraduate teacher education. She is coauthor of three earlier books, Composing Diverse Identities: Narrative Inquiries into the Interwoven Lives of Children and Teachers (Routledge, 2006), Places of Curriculum Making: Narrative Inquiries into Children’s Lives in Motion (Emerald, 2011), and Warrior Women: Remaking Postsecondary Places Through Relational Narrative Inquiry (Emerald, 2012), as well as chapters and journal articles. Janice has engaged in narrative inquiries with children, youth, families, teachers, principals, and Elders. Prior to completing her PhD Janice was a primary and elementary teacher in rural northern Alberta, the Netherlands, and with Edmonton Public Schools.