Narrative research as an ethical turn: creative insubordinations and self-transformation

Abstract

The article addresses the experiences of PhD researches by the respective authors, both of whom have worked with children and teachers in the Early Years of Elementary School and are related to narratives regarding Statistical Education. The text presents a situation from each of their theses in which they were faced with the need to give voice, feel and research “with” the participating subjects: children and teachers, people who are generally invisible in academia or “used” as guinea pigs in tests by researchers who place themselves in a position of superiority. From the perspective of a political and ethical commitment to people and their subjectivity, the researchers are faced with their own identity and self-transformation, while at the same time turning the dominating view of doing science around. Narrative is the research methodology in investigations involving childhood and teaching. This article aims to highlight that, in telling life stories, their profession and research, as well as in caring for the life stories of the participants, the authors take an insubordinate and creative stance towards the traditional methods of scientific research, an important step towards the ethical shift through narrative research. This makes them closer to reality, more capable of understanding the role of the teacher, children's learning movements and the theoretical and methodological relationships that permeate the school and educational sciences, a path towards an awareness of the need to be more empathetic and sensitive in our lives, as well as in our research.