Narrative Generates a Learning Spiral in Education: Recognition, Reflection, and Reconstruction

The narrative form is everywhere. It can be as common as our daily stories and as significant as a great novel. Narrating can be a process of self-assessment and introspection around a certain theme. In this sense it is important in education. In this paper I argue that people learn not only by listening to narrative but also by teaching others through narrative and by reflection, which is really a form of narrative where we tell stories to ourselves. I propose a model of narrative learning adapted from the work of Mary Catherine Bateson (1994) that involves recognition of experience, reflection, and reconstruction, which are interrelated to each other as a spiral. In this paper I will first describe my understanding of the importance of narrative and my own experience with narrative learning, then I will describe the narrative learning spiral model. I claim that narrative is ubiquitous and that it is essential for learning.