Nurturing a supportive learning community : an autobiographical narrative of change efforts in a diverse setting

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis was to reflect on my experiences as an educator in a unique educational community of immense diversity. More specifically, the use of autobiographical narrative helped to focus my reflections on change efforts aimed at nurturing a supportive learning community. The narrative – storytelling – methodology was used, building on the belief that people are storytellers by nature and narratives – stories – are an effective way to organize and make sense of life experiences. Through storytelling, I identified experiences that impacted my personal and professional beliefs and practices. I considered two factors contributing to the significance of a story: emotional intensity and impact on learning. The expression of the stories was approached by examining what initiated the change effort, what change was made, and what effect or result occurred. The contribution of this thesis lies in the impact of the stories shared; stories have the power to draw people in and promote an emotional level of empathetic understanding and learning difficult to achieve by other means. The literature served two main purposes in this work: (a) enhanced my reflective analysis in the examination of critical considerations for implementing change, and (b) substantiated the stories. The literature provided the opportunity for further reflection on the change efforts in order to determine how to improve their implementation success, and to be better equipped to approach future change efforts in a more judicious and prudent manner. At the conclusion of the study, future considerations were outlined regarding: (a) upcoming changes, (b) implications for practices, (c) implications for society and (d) recommendations for further research.