Deconstructing and Reconstructing Lives: Auto/Biography in Educational Settings

The writing of lives is part of a long, scholarly tradition and has been seen variously as a sub-branch of history, literature, and cultural studies. Auto/biography has been used in educational studies to bring understanding to the historical conditions of educational actors, whether students, teachers, parents, or policy makers. It has been used as a research tool to explore experiences of schooling and its impact on future lives as well as to identify patterns in teachers' perceptions. The authors have set two main points for this book about auto/biography and education. First, they set out to investigate comprehensively the uses of auto/biography, including its benefits and dangers. Second, they seek to explore how one can judge the value of using biography and auto/biography as historical and cultural sources for education. In doing so, they offer guidance on how to analyze texts, helping the reader to develop a more nuanced and complex understanding of people's stories. Unlike others in this area, this book draws on writings in a variety of disciplines, including psychology, literature, education, women's studies, and the philosophy of history. This book will be of particular interest to graduate students and researchers in education, the social sciences, and the humanities. It will be attractive to an international audience, especially because of the authors' affiliations with a variety of institutions in the United States, Canada, and Europe.