ABSTRACT
A great deal of human learning occurs through storytelling; it is a time-honoured way of informing others about what has happened in life and work. Elliott (2005: 15) in her work on using narrative in social research stresses three key features of narrative that link it to human learning and communication: firstly, it has a temporal or chronological dimension providing a series of events or experiences rather than describing a state of affairs; secondly, it communicates the meaning of events or experiences through temporal and evaluative statements; and thirdly, there is an important social dimension to narrative which is a popular form of communication. This chapter will draw upon approaches promoting storytelling, narratives and fictions in practitioner research. In particular, it will address how ethical issues can be investigated and developed through presenting ideas and data in the ‘real’ and ‘fictive’ voices of practitioners and others in stories, pen portraits and vignettes. It will discuss how, through fictions and telling stories about professional practice, ethical issues and dilemmas can be raised, illustrated and discussed; and how the storytelling process can help develop practitioners’ professional learning, values and ethical practice. It will also raise questions about the ethics of storytelling itself. The chapter will introduce and problematise a range of story types such as ‘real’ and ‘true’ stories, ‘fictional’ and ‘hypothetical’ stories, ‘cover’ stories and ‘positive’ and ‘negative’ stories. It will then discuss the pen portrait methodology as developed in Campbell et al. (2004) to illustrate how teachers in their professional development can be encouraged to identify and be supported in reflecting upon ethical issues in their professional lives.
