Storied voices: a phenomenological study of identity and belonging

This thesis explores the themes of identity and belonging through an examination of personal stories. From childhood in a Jewish immigrant family to professional life teaching in culturally diverse inner city classrooms, I focus on the living nature of my memories and how my research is affected by the experiences of telling and writing my stories. I make connections to the oral tradition of my home culture, to research in the fields of narrative inquiry and phenomenology, and to socio-cultural theory. The sense of "difference" I experienced as a child serves as a "drop sheet" to the dispositions I have developed as a teacher, creating a research method that is messy, colourful, complex and uncertain. I invite the reader to remember who s/he is, to tell his/her own stories, and through the shifting experiences of construction and reflection, to hear the voices which reveal both personal and pedagogical meaning.