Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Troubling Certainty »

This text provides a forum for the presentation and discussion of narrative inquiry approaches to research in music education, and contextualizes this work within the larger conversations of music education research and practice. In an innovative dialogic approach the text is divided into 3 parts, each presenting a different perspective on the uses and purposes of narrative in and for music education. Section I explores the origins of narrative research across a range of fields of inquiry and presents a conception of narrative inquiry as “resonant work”. Section II provides 7 examples of narrative inquiry research, each of which is accompanied by a reflective commentary. The commentaries provide an interpretive perspective of the narrative accounts, suggest further questions that arise from the inquiry, and provide insight into the potential uses of the narrative account for the theory and practice of music education. Section III brings together the perspectives of two eminent theorists and practitioners.

Introduction Margaret S. Barrett Sandra L. Stauffer 1

Part I

1 Narrative Inquiry: From Story to Method Margaret S. Barrett Sandra L. Stauffer 7

2 Narrative Inquiry in Music Education: Toward Resonant Work Sandra L. Stauffer Margaret S. Barrett 19

Part II

Prelude: Framing and Re-framing the Narrative Possibilities for Music Education Margaret S. Barrett Sandra L. Stauffer 33

3 Storying the Musical Lifeworld: Illumination Through Narrative Case Study David Cleaver 35

4 Challenges in Storying a Musical Lifeworld - A Commentary Graham F. Welch 57

5 The Importance of Being Henry Tom Langston 63

6 The Interview as Narrative - A Commentary Rosalynd Smith 81

7 Filtered Through the Lenses of Self: Experiences of Two Preservice Music Teachers Kaye Ferguson 87

8 Layering Analytic Lenses: Considerations for Assessing the Narrative Text in Music Education - A Commentary Marie McCarthy 107

9 Learning from the Learners: A Cooperating Teacher's Story Jeffrey Davis 113

10 Nora's Story and the Mirror of Music Teacher Excellence - A Commentary Magne Espeland 131

11 "Everybody Should Be Heard; Everybody Has Got a Story to Tell, or a Song to Sing" Catherine Kroon 135

12 Giving Voice to the Voiceless: Empowerment Through Music - A Commentary Kathryn Marsh 153

13 "G" Andrew Goodrich 157

14 Narrative Inquiry as Reflection on Pedagogy - A Commentary Peter Dunbar-Hall 175

15 Stories from the Front Loretta Niebur Walker 179

16 Narrative Inquiry and Indelible Impressions - A Commentary Janet R. Barrett 195

Part III

17 Troubling Certainty: Narrative Possibilities for Music Education D. Jean Clandinin 201

18 Charting Narrative TerritoryWayne Bowman 211

Postlude Sandra L. Stauffer Margaret S. Barrett 223

Author Biographies 225

Author Index 233

Subject Index 237