| This qualitative life history study seeks to understand the teaching lives of three experienced teachers by making visible how they view their teaching histories and what influenced them in retrospect. Building on the life history research model of Goodson and Sikes (2001), I used the discourse of the teachers to describe the trajectory of their professional lives. The primary sources were online forum posts and extensive follow-up interviews. Data were analyzed using a multi-step, narrative-inspired framework through which I 1) compiled an overview of each participant's teaching history; 2) coded for broad themes and representative refrains; 3) analyzed details of individual refrains, tones, deeper themes, and metaphors; 4) analyzed pairs of refrains for tensions and commonalities; and 5) looked across all of the refrains of each teacher. Findings include how the collective stories of these three teachers inform teacher educators to find ways to assist experienced teachers by 1) instilling hope and providing support, 2) valuing experienced teachers as resources, and 3) helping them find ways to enact professional courage. |
