Why school-based narrative inquiry in physical education research? An international perspective

Abstract

While conducting a comparative research study in secondary Physical Education in South Korea and the United States, the question arose as to why the narrative inquiry research method we employed was chosen to study the experiences of teachers teaching the particular subject area to youth enrolled in four secondary schools (middle and high) in South Korea and the United States. This article takes up the query by probing the roots of school-based narrative inquiry and the tight connections between our specific research method and the teacher-as-curriculum-maker image of teaching. Six qualities of narrative inquiry are elaborated through the use of narrative fragments excerpted from our Korea Research Foundation-sponsored study. These characteristics include: (1) justification for inquiry, (2) research in the midst, (3) research on the boundaries, (4) knowing through relationship, and (5) narrative truth, and (6) following where the story leads. Finally, the article returns to the intimate relationship between our chosen version of narrative inquiry and the teacher-as-curriculum-maker image and the kinds of contributions that the union of these robust orientations can make to the study of Physical Education in classroom settings.