Interwoven Story: A Narrative Study of Textiles as Educators

Drawing from both narrative research and Joe Kincheloe's work of research bricolage this study inquired into how textiles have served as educator throughout my life. Weaving, as the earliest and most integral of textile fabrications, is particularly featured in this narrative inquiry. A loom, in its most basic form, consists of three components; a rigid weaving structure (the frame), cording to weave onto (the warp), and materials to weave with (the weft). This three-part weaving structure also acted as the metaphorical and physical writing structure throughout my work. Structurally, my work views narrative methods, supported by bricolage, as its research frame. This acts as the main frame for the analytic weaving of the study. The warp of my work were the textiles themselves, serving as the material educator I returned to as anchors for my woven stories. By understanding our own history of clothing, we might unclothe our relationship to textiles. This "unclothing" can act as a basis for grounding curriculum that is largely ignored in schools today.