edited by Lía D. Kamhi-Stein
foreword by Stephanie Vandrick
University of Michigan Press, 2013
Paper: 978-0-472-03499-4 | eISBN: 978-0-472-12014-7
Library of Congress Classification PE1066.K36 2013
Dewey Decimal Classification 428.0071

ABOUT THIS BOOK | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE
ABOUT THIS BOOK


“…a groundbreaking book that will…engage, inform, and connect with present and future teachers and teacher educators.”                 


---Stephanie Vandrick, Foreword to Narrating Their Lives


The field of TESOL has called attention to the ways that the issues of race and ethnicity, language status and power, and cultural background affect second language learners’ identities and, to some degree, those of teachers. In Narrating Their Lives, Kamhi-Stein examines the process of identity construction of classroom teachers so as to make connections between their personal and professional identities and their instructional practices. To do that, she has selected six autobiographical narratives from teachers who were once part of her TESL 570 (Educational Sociolinguistics) class in the MA TESOL program at California State University, Los Angeles. These six narratives cover a surprisingly wide range of identity issues but also touch on broader instructional themes that are part of teacher education programs.


Because of the reflective nature of the narratives—with the teachers using their stories to better understand how their experiences shape what they do in the classroom—this volume includes provocative chapter-opening and reflective chapter-closing questions. An informative discussion of the autobiographical narrative assignment and the TESL 570 course (including supplemental course readings and assessment criteria) is also included.