1st Edition

Biography and Education A Reader

Edited By Michael Erben Copyright 1998

    Over recent years biographical studies have gained an increasingly important place in academic study. The two are inextricably linked. Education uses biography in teaching, and in biography, education features strongly as a formative stage in personal development. This book elaborates on the analytical work that has drawn attention to biography and education, and seeks to expand the understanding of lives in educational contexts. Mainstream sociology has been quick to embrace this treatment of individuals as biographical appearances, but it is even more relevant in the field of education.

    1. Research methodology for a biography Michael Erben 2. Understanding life backwards and leading it forwards: adolescent girls reflect on educational choices Christine Mann 3. Perspectives on learning difficulties through biographies Hilary Dickinson 4. The story of the self: 1ducation, experience and autobiography Robin Usher 5. Student drop-out: collecting biographies in the further education context on missing population Michelene Page 6. Voices from margins: regulation and resistance in the lives of lesbian teachers Gill Clarke 7. Narratology, reflection and individual subjectivity: inscribing of teachers in New Right discourses 1979-1997 David Scott 8. Nineteenth Century non-conformist lives, voluntarism and educational expansion Diana Jones 9. PhD students and the life of learning Zoe Parker 10. An auto/biographical account of educational experience Brian Lewis 11. Biography and slavery as a background to citizenship education Peter Figuaroa

    Biography

    Michael Erben

    'I wholeheartedly recommend this challenging and stimulating book to all readers who want to find out what it can mean to connect biography with education.' - Management in Education

    'This book is a must for neophyte researchers whether they are considering using biographical methods or not. This text will raise their awareness of the key theoretical and methodological issues that they will need to engage with.' - Auto/Biography

    'This book, which is accessible, affordable and topical, is a useful handbook for those planning or undertaking research involving life history. Its material will also be of use to students and teachers in the sociology of education as it provides practical examples of the diverse ways in which auto/biographical research can be carried out. For the interested teacher, the book explores some areas which have, to date been little discussed.' - British Educational Research Journal

    'I found this volume both useful and provocative.' - Biography