This title looks at the contemporary need to study life narratives, considers the emergence and salience of life narratives in contemporary culture, and discusses different forms of narrativity.

We live in an age of narrative: life stories are a crucial ingredient in what makes us human and, in turn, what kind of human they make us. In recent years, narrative analysis has grown and is used across many areas of research. Interest in this rapidly developing approach now requires the firm theoretical underpinning that would allow researchers to both approach such research in a reliably structured way, and to interpret the results more effectively. Developing Narrative Theory looks at the contemporary need to study life narratives, considers the emergence and salience of life narratives in contemporary culture, and discusses different forms of narrativity. It shows in detail how life story interviews are conducted, and demonstrates how the process often begins with relatively unstructured life story collection but moves to a more collaborative exchange, where sociological themes and historical patterns are scrutinised and mutually explored. At the core of this book, the author shows that, far from there being a singular form of narrative or an infinite range of unique and idiosyncratic narratives, there are in fact clusters of narrativity and particular types of narrative style. These can be grouped into four main areas: Focussed Elaborators; Scripted Describers; Armchair Elaborators; and Focussed Describers. Drawing on data from several large-scale studies from countries across the world, Professor Goodson details how theories of narrativity and life story analysis can combine to inform learning potential. Timely and innovative, this book will be of use to all of those employing narrative and life history methods in their research. It will also be of interest to those working in lifelong learning and with professional and self development practices.

Effective narration, the telling of stories or recounting of personal experiences, is an art requiring skills that appear crucial for children's language development and literacy acquisition. This volume serves an important purpose because it pulls together the widely scattered literature in the field, exploring the ways in which oral narrative structure develops in children and how it may be facilitated. It presents new empirical studies on genres of narrative, the role narrative structure plays in emergent literacy, the relationship between narrative language and autobiographical memory, and ways in which teachers and parents facilitate or hinder children's narrative development. The empirical research presented here draws from diverse groups, including Hispanic, African-American, and Anglo-American children from rural and urban America and Canada.

The past several decades have seen an explosion of interest in narrative, with this multifaceted object of inquiry becoming a central concern in a wide range of disciplinary fields and research contexts. As accounts of what happened to particular people in particular circumstances and with specific consequences, stories have come to be viewed as a basic human strategy for coming to terms with time, process, and change. However, the very predominance of narrative as a focus of interest across multiple disciplines makes it imperative for scholars, teachers, and students to have access to a comprehensive reference resource.

Despite significant demand for healthcare professionals in the workforce, admission to health professional graduate programs is highly competitive with less than half of all medical school applicants gaining admission annually. The application process is nuanced, complex, and costly, which can often be a significant barrier to otherwise highly qualified students, particularly those from backgrounds underrepresented in the healthcare workforce. Further understanding of the best practices in navigating the application processes, academia, and professional development is crucial for those advising pre-health students. The Handbook of Research on Advising and Developing the Pre-Health Professional Student considers current practices and research regarding academic and extracurricular preparation of undergraduate students who wish to enter health professions and offers new pre-health professional advisors as well as more seasoned advisors and other administrators a resource to assist them in their professional journey. Covering a range of topics such as advisor relationships and lifelong learning skills, this major reference work is ideal for advisors, healthcare professionals, academicians, researchers, practitioners, scholars, instructors, and students.

Selecting from the wide range of research methodologies remains a dilemma for all scholars, not least those looking to study the world of accounting. Both established and emerging research methods are frequently advocated, creating a challengingly broad range of choices. Covering a selection of qualitative methodological issues, research strategies and methods, this comprehensive compilation provides an essential guide to the choice and execution of qualitative research approaches in this field. The contributions are grouped into four sections: Worldview and paradigms Methodologies and strategies Data collection methods and analysis Experiencing qualitative field research: personal reflections Edited by leading scholars, with contributions from experts and rising stars, this volume will be essential reading for anyone looking to undertake research in the qualitative accounting field.

Education and International Development, 2000-2020: A Constructivist Critique of the One-size-fits-all Liberal Model advances the claim that there exists a liberal theory of international education. Ian Wash argues that the assumed harmony of this model is the main source of dispute in the field of education and international development. The liberal thinking behind the aspirations for education, the political levers necessary for its effective governance, and the ideas behind the policies all have contributed towards growing tensions that prevented international education from achieving optimal functionality. Through a qualitative discourse analysis of the key policy documents produced between 2000 and 2020, Wash reveals how the liberal model was discursively constructed as a grand narrative of three acts that chronicles the vision, process and outcomes of international education. Such a rendering brings an understanding of the hidden conflicts essential for finding a resolution to this policy puzzle, thereby improving the prosperity and wellbeing of those in poorer countries.