The Rainbow Bike Experiences of School for Parents Whose Children Have Needs: A Narrative Inquiry into Whose Knowledge Counts
Date
2024-01-02
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
ORCID
0009-0000-6686-2226
Type
Thesis
Degree Level
Doctoral
Abstract
Having chosen narrative inquiry as my research methodology, I sat for hours in my first
narrative inquiry class wondering how I was going to tell my story. I observed countless examples
of rich narratives. They all spoke to me in different ways, but I still did not know how to begin.
Finally, the metaphor of the rainbow bike crashed into my head, just as it crashed so long ago as a
little girl. I decided to use the rainbow bike metaphor to conceptualize and tell my story of
experience and as an entry into this narrative inquiry. As a child, my rainbow bike was a place of
escape from pain and hurt. As a narrative inquirer in the field, I continued to ride my rainbow bike
when I needed help to carry the heaviness of the stories my research participants shared and I
needed to escape to places of safety and comfort to unpack those stories. As I engaged in analysis
and interpretation of my field text, my rainbow bike carried me to places of discovery and joy.
Now, as I conclude this narrative inquiry, I park my rainbow bike for some much needed rest.
It was through writing my own narrative beginnings that I learned how to portray the lived
experiences and stories of my research participants: three pairs of parent partners who have a child
with needs, the term I use to step away from the language and labelling of ‘special needs’ that
‘others’ children and their families. Parents with children with needs often find themselves pushed
to the margins at their children’s schools, seen to be lesser than other parents, seen to be less
knowing. My purpose in inquiring into their lived experiences was to foreground the parent
knowledge they hold, individually as parents and together as parent partners, that can be used
alongside teachers’ knowledge to inform their children’s schooling experiences.
Attentive to the three-dimensional space of this narrative inquiry, I captured participants’
stories as they unfolded over time, moving between earlier moments, present realities, and
imagined future possibilities. I was drawn to their innermost thoughts and feelings as we engaged
in conversations in the social space of our living rooms. Through the sharing of our stories, we
journeyed to childhood homes, communities, and schools. This narrative inquiry has been a long
and in-depth rainbow bike ride, backward and forward, inward and outward, visiting many places
during the sharing of stories of our lives.
As stories were lived and told, I understood more deeply how parent knowledge is held and
used, either individually, exercised as a form of roving leadership within their partnership, or co-
constructed to create new shared knowledge for both parents. It became clear that if parent
knowledge is used alongside teacher knowledge, it is possible to dramatically transform the current
hierarchy of schools, creating teaching and learning centres in which parents have a place and
voice.
It is my hope that the lived experiences of the parents in my inquiry have been educative
for themselves and will be for other parents on a similar journey, for educators who will “walk
alongside” the parents as their children with needs enter schools and school systems, and for
schools and school systems in which some parents and families find themselves in the margins of
the school landscape.
Description
Keywords
Special Education, Narrative Inquiry, Parent Knowledge, Language and Labels, Othering, Co-Constructed Knowledge
Citation
Degree
Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)
Department
Curriculum Studies
Program
Educational Psychology and Special Education