Narrative Research Method

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The relationship between student and educator is the focus of my research. Question: How does the relationship between student and educator influence the process of learning? Subquestion: What can be learned about the relationship between student and educator from teaching indigenous forms of dance and how can this knowledge be applied to the western educational system? Why are relationships important? A review of the research literature shows that authors have a lot to say about positive relationships with students. Thompson (1998) says, “The most powerful weapon available to secondary teachers who want to foster a favorable learning climate is a positive relationship with our students” (p. 6). Canter and Canter (1997) make the statement that we all can recall classes in which we did not try very hard because we didn't like our teachers. Speaking form personal experience as an educator, I realized the importance of the relationship or connection related to teaching. My students responded to instruction and retained knowledge when there was a connection. Research Strategy Research will be conducted using the narrative method. The rational for choosing this method is; narrative research is conducive to uncovering hidden meaning buried deep within the culture and the respondent. According to anthropologist Claude Lévi-Strauss many actions practiced within a culture are not validated by conscious reasons. They are performed without the respondent really knowing why they react in the way they do to a situation. Lévi-Strauss claims that indigenous teaching practices fall within the category of practices situated deep within the culture (1969). Narrative research reaches the deep ethos of the participant and the culture. The n... ... middle of paper ... ... Hawaii and here in San Francisco I realized that the experience was different in each place. The subject of location could play a roll in my research and I intend to be aware of that aspect. An interdisciplinary procedure will be engaged, which will include several disciplines including anthropology, history and dance. I see this interdisciplinary process as being focused on the individual from varied perspectives. Edgar Morin states, human beings are multidimensional: knowledge must recognize this multi dimensionality and insert its data within it. Some of the information I may find during narrative research might be unexpected. Once the unexpected has happened, we must be able to revise our thoughts and ideas instead of pushing and shoving the new fact into a discipline in an attempt to stuff it into a format that really can not accommodate it (Morin, 2001).

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