Narrative as Artful Curriculum Making

Abstract

In this chapter we conceptualize narrative in the curriculum making of arts education as we inquire into our own narratives of experience, review relevant literature on narrative broadly understood and on narrative in the visual arts, music and drama education, and claim spaces for narrative in arts education.1 We define narrative as a genre of literature, a way to think about writing, and a way to think about experience. Narrative, in this third view, is a helpful way to conceptualize the experiences of teachers and children within the mandated, planned, and experienced curriculum. Yi Li, as an English lan- guage teacher and researcher, Jean, as a curriculum theorist and narrative inquirer, and Lynn as a language arts educator and arts-informed researcher, each brought diverse perspectives to this chapter. All are involved in narrative work but not in arts education.