The Power and Possibilities for Understanding Teaching in these Times with Ethnodramatic Inquiries into Teacher Stories: Two Reviews

• Main Author: Sarah Reed Hobson
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: University of Alberta 2016-07-01
• Series: Art/Research International
• Subjects: ethnodrama; practitioner inquiry; art-based research; teacher education; educational policy
• Online Access: https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/ari/index.php/ari/article/view/25553

The following is a review and commentary on two of Charles Vanover’s ethnodramatic performances of the ethnographic interviews of two teachers. At two sessions at two educational conferences, Charles staged verbatim excerpts from each interview to open conversations with teacher educators about the challenges faced by two teachers in Chicago Public Schools. With this review, I explain the structuring behind each performance and the ensuing conversations about teacher challenges and needs in these times. I illuminate how educators can use ethnodramatic inquiries into teacher stories to deepen their understandings of teacher education and to re-write narratives that scapegoat teachers as the problem.