A narrative approach to exploring context in language teaching

In recent years there have been persistent calls for teachers to explore their teaching contexts in order to become more aware of them and to understand them. Doing so would enable teachers to make more informed decisions about their practice and their students' learning. This article outlines a narrative approach for exploring context. A narrative inquiry case is presented to provide a framework for the discussion. Emerging from this narrative case are three levels of story applicable to the participant English teachers' lives. A brief description of these levels is provided, and is followed by an illustration of each using extracts from the written story of one of the participating teachers.