Leena Syrjälä

Action research and narrative inquiry: five principles for validation revisited

The article continues the discussion of the five quality principles proposed by Heikkinen, Huttunen, and Syrjälä, published in 2007 in Educational Action Research. In the present article, the authors reconsider the five principles: historical continuity; reflexivity; dialectics; workability; and evocativeness. These five principles are critically examined from two viewpoints. First, the authors discuss comments on the quality of the principles published in Educational Action Research, referring to contemporary discussion within the philosophy of science. Second, they review some empirical action research reports in which these principles have been applied. The authors point out some problems in applying these quality principles as well as successful ways of working with the principles.

Does Santa exist? Children’s everyday narratives as dynamic meeting places in a day care centre context

The article attempts to answer the question: What is the nature of children’s everyday narratives in a day care centre context? The theoretical framework of this study is based on a narrative approach. The research material was gathered through applying the methodology of narrative ethnography. The article is based on observational material collected from three groups of children within day care centres over the course of one year. The material was analysed through dialogic analysis of narratives. For the purpose of the article, one narrative is used as an evocative anecdote to illustrate research findings revealing the emerging nature of children’s narratives characterised by fragmentariness, multimodality, collaboration and a complex relationship between narrative and context. The article challenges the predominant formalist discourse on children’s narratives, and suggests utilising the pedagogical potential of young children’s narratives in the day care centre context.

Having, loving, and being: children's narrated well-being in Finnish day care centres

The aim of this study is to answer the following question: what do children tell about their well-being in Finnish day care centres? The theoretical and methodological framework of this study is based on a narrative approach. The research material was collected by participating in the everyday life of three groups of children and listening to their narratives. The research material, consisting of observations and tape-recorded conversations, is reflected in a model of well-being developed by a Finnish sociologist, Erik Allardt. This model consists of three dimensions: having, loving, and being. With the intention of understanding childrens well-being, the meanings of having, loving, and being are explored. Instead of arguing for one objective truth, this study offers diverse narratives, conveying both positive and negative experiences of childrens well-being. The most positive experiences deal with inspiring and enabling material environment, responsive adults, good friends, and opportunities for meaningful activities. Darker shades permeate the narratives characterised by unyielding institutional structures, childrens separateness from adults, the exclusion from peer relationships, and not being respected as a subject. This study demonstrates both potentials and limitations involved in narrative methodology when exploring young childrens experienced well-being.

Body, Caring and Power in Teacher-Pupil Relationships: Encounters in Former Pupils' Memories.

This narrative inquiry aims to look at teacher–pupil relationships through teacher memories. When 49 university students of education were asked to write their memories of teachers, they told about their teachers in relation to pupils. The data were analysed thematically and, based on that, re‐read through the concepts of body, caring and power in order to answer the question of how these can be understood as elements of the teacher–pupil relationship. We will also discuss the potential for encounter in teacher–pupil relationships, since we noticed that students especially seemed to recall encounters and non‐encounters in the relationship. By listening to former pupils, it is possible to elicit significant memories of what, from their point of view, is in the core of being a teacher. The meaning of recalling ones own teachers in teacher education is also emphasised.

Silenced Truths: Relational and Emotional Dimensions of a Beginning Teacher's Identity as Part of the Micropolitical Context of School

This article focuses on teacher identity. Based on two small stories told in a peer group by a beginning teacher, we ask: How does a beginning teacher tell about her identity as part of the micropolitical context of school? Theoretically and methodologically, the research is committed to a narrative approach in understanding teacher identity. The material consists of small stories based on videotaped peer group discussions of 11 Finnish teachers. The results of the research illustrate the micropolitical context at the heart of how a beginning teachers identity is constructed through diverse emotionally significant relationships. Narrative ways of working, such as group discussions, can offer teachers an opportunity to recognize different dimensions of their identity.

Narrative Pedagogies for Peer Groups

Abstract The aim of this chapter is to feature exemplars of narrative pedagogies used in teacher education in Finland. The theoretical framework of the chapter is based on two commitments. First, we argue that narrative pedagogies are meaningful, since becoming and being a teacher is a constantly changing and developing identity story. Narrative pedagogies also link to the notion of “participant knowledge,” in contrast to “spectator knowledge,” which has been the dominant view on epistemology in the modern scientific world. Participant knowledge is something typically narrative in nature, which has much to do with emotional and expressive ways of understanding the world around us. In this chapter, we first introduce practices of autobiographical writing as examples how to promote skills of critical reflection. We then introduce narrative pedagogies, which have been organized for peer groups. During the first project, a special method, KerToi, was developed both for preservice and in-service teacher education. The newest model is the Peer-Group Mentoring (PGM) model, in which peer group practices were further developed to support early career teachers in Finland, and to be used as the European Paedeia Cafe model. We conclude that narrative pedagogies in Finnish teacher education offer an excellent environment that links theoretical, spectator knowledge to participant knowledge. The narrative approach to peer-group mentoring can be seen as a promising pedagogy, which can promote a more humane teacher education experience and reinforce the professional and personal growth of future teachers.

Issues of responsibility when conducting research in a northern rural school

This article focuses on how interaction meetings between researchers and research participants in a northern Finnish village and its village school develop the researchers’ sense of responsibility as part of their research ethics. The ethics of caring is often seen as the root of the ethics of responsibility, but the authors suggest listening to both the “justice voice” and “caring voice.” Reflecting on the research project and on events in the field, three senses of responsibility are distinguished and described: one, the responsibility for relationships; two, political responsibility; and three, the responsibility to maintain a democratic process when presenting results. We argue that the local and bodily experiences of a researcher in the field give a researcher new emplaced knowledge that transforms his or her sense of responsibility.

Intervention,treatmentand care in autistic disorder. Challenging case reports from northern Finland

Abstract Objectives. Autism produces characteristic patterns of behaviour, and individuals with autistic disorder (AD) have a lot in common in terms of behaviour and mannerisms. Individuals with autism, however, also have their own overall personalities, which both underlie and interact with their autism. This article focuses on challenges of identifying AD and delivering appropriate services in face of long distances and limited resources. Study design. This study is a retrospective descriptive chart review and cases series. Hospital records and data on the treatment/habilitation status of 187 children and adolescents with autistic disorder aged 3–18 years were evaluated from Northern Finland. Methods. Nine subjects, representing the age group of 9-to 17-year-olds, did not show any improvement on the Childhood Autism Rating Scale (CARS) and in the clinical examination during the follow-up period 1990–97. In this study, these children and adolescents with AD were evaluated more carefully. Results. The treatment programs and therapies varied, depending on the availability of trained staff. There were various reasons for the absence of the most suitable treatment, or habilitation, at the individual level. The difficulties also varied over time and between individuals. In addition, after the follow-up period, four of the nine (55.6%) individuals showed more positive outcome when the level of autism had been taken into account in the planning of the intervention for, treatment and care of AD. Conclusion. The possible reasons for poor outcome included the level of mental disability, impairments of speech and communication, lack of knowledge of autism at the municipal level, long distance to services, severe epilepsy, additional medical diagnosis, parental acceptance of the child’s autism and late start of the intervention for, or habilitation of autism. (Int J Circumpolar Health 2005; 64(1):65–76)

Chapter 8 Narrative Research: From the Margins to Being Heard

This chapter traces the rise of narrative research as a method and form of inquiry in the field of education. While the work mainly focuses on the increased use of narrative in Finland, the fact of the matter is that the interpretative turn, which some call the narrative turn, has spread throughout the world and into almost every disciplinary area of study (medicine, law, religion, etc.). ISATT members internationally have played a key role in its development. The authors of this chapter claim that narrative not only instantiates people’s knowledge, experiences, and situations but also changes their lives. They aver that this constitutes the transformational power of narrative research and forms the essence of why it is being drawn in from the margins and gaining acceptance in mainstream discourse and society.