What the Dialogic Literary Gatherings Did for Me: The Personal Narrative of an 11-Year-Old Boy in a Rural Community in England. (December 2015)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: García-Carrión, Rocío
• Other Names: Soler Marta guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: Qualitative inquiry. Volume 21:Number 10(2015)
• Page Start: 913
• Page End: 919
• Publication Date: 2015-12
• Subjects: Dialogic Literary Gatherings -- children's epistemologies -- communicative biography -- critical pedagogy -- transformative paradigm; Social sciences -- Methodology -- Periodicals; Social sciences -- Research -- Periodicals; 300.72
• DOI: 10.1177/1077800415614305
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1077-8004

Abstract

Narratives organize the structure of human experience and allow for the explanation of turning-point moments in an individual's life. Such "epiphanies" leave marks on our lives and may create possible worlds beyond the established. Dialogic Literary Gatherings (DLGs) expanded the world of Connor, an 11-year-old boy in a rural community, and his perception of it, which helped him to succeed in a critical moment of school transition between elementary and secondary school. This article reports his transformative journey during his participation in DLGs. A combination of communicative techniques—dialogic interviews, observations, and life stories—enabled critical, egalitarian, and transformative dialogues between the researcher and Connor. As such, the dialogic construction of knowledge in Connor's communicative biography highlights how significant relational experiences enabled him to achieve more, to understand other children's minds, and to confidently face the challenge of testing children at the end of elementary school.