Drawing on the emergence of multiple dimensions, and dynamics, of narrative across the life cycle of the work, Turn to Teaching’s Dr Gareth Burns, Dr Jerry O’Neill and Dr Seán Henry hosted a symposium at the recent Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE) 2022 Spring Conference, Marino Institute of Education.
The symposium was entitled ‘Narratives of Widening Participation in a Project Promoting Diversity in the Teaching Profession’, and the three papers that comprised it reflected the diversity but interconnectedness and intersectionality of the voices and stories of Turn to Teaching’s community of learners, educators and activists.
The first paper, the story of the project, presented an overview and evaluation of the work of Turn to Teaching, with a particular emphasis on excavating the structural contexts and challenges that participants and the work engages with. The second paper curated an anthology of emerging educators’ stories of ‘what it is to be a teacher’ from the past, present and future, which helps us to start to imagine what a more diverse and representative teaching profession can achieve in a transformative sense. Finally, the third paper recounted the narratives of teacher educators working on the project, and how such experiences can tentatively indicate alternative modes of resistance to educational exclusions through critically reflexive pedagogy and curriculum development.
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