Narratives of professional development in a teachers’ creative writing group

This is a self-archived version of an original article. This version may differ from the original in pagination and typographic details. Author(s): Title: Year: Version: Copyright: Rights: Rights url: Please cite the original version: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Narratives of professional development in a teachers’ creative writing group © 2021 the Authors Published version Martin, Anne; Tarnanen, Mirja; Tynjälä, Päivi Martin, A., Tarnanen, M., & Tynjälä, P. (2021). Narratives of professional development in a teachers’ creative writing group. New Writing :The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing, 18(4), 480-495. https://doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2021.1900274 2021 Full Terms & Conditions of access and use can be found at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/journalInformation?journalCode=rmnw20 New Writing The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing ISSN: (Print) (Online) Journal homepage: https://www.tandfonline.com/loi/rmnw20 Narratives of professional development in a teachers’ creative writing group Anne Martin, Mirja Tarnanen & Päivi Tynjälä To cite this article: Anne Martin, Mirja Tarnanen & Päivi Tynjälä (2021): Narratives of professional development in a teachers’ creative writing group, New Writing, DOI: 10.1080/14790726.2021.1900274 To link to this article: https://doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2021.1900274 © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group Published online: 06 Apr 2021. Submit your article to this journal View related articles View Crossmark data Narratives of professional development in a teachers’creative writing group Anne Martin a , Mirja Tarnanen a and Päivi Tynjälä b a Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Jyvaskyla, Finland; b Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Jyvaskyla, Finland ABSTRACT This paper explores teachers’experiences of professional development in a creative writing group. The data was collected in a teachers’creative writing group and consist of semistructured interviews and creative writing assignments. Reflexive thematic analysis and narrative analysis were applied to compose a nonfiction piece that describes the teachers’experiences of a ‘year of creative writing’. Within the nonfiction piece, four themes were presented as findings of the study: social aspects, personal and emotional aspects, writer identity aspects, and pedagogical aspects. The results suggest that utilising creative writing methods in qualitative research can raise otherwise hidden voices and experiences that may be difficult to express through the academic language. ARTICLE HISTORY Received 15 November 2020 Revised 17 February 2021 Accepted 1 March 2021 KEYWORDS Creative writing; teachers’ professional development; narrative research; creative nonfiction Introduction The changing world challenges educational systems around the globe to develop innovative approaches to support teachers’professional development. For example, in Finland, the current curriculum for basic education introduces transversal competences such as creative, multiliterate and self-regulative skills (FNBE 2014) that demand teachers to develop their pedagogical skills to support their pupils’learning. In order to pass on these skills, teachers could be offered, as one experimental solution, opportunities to develop themselves using creative methods, such as creative writing. Furthermore, all teachers are writing teachers, regardless of the subjects they teach or their students’age or writing skills (Peterson 2008). Therefore, teachers could benefit from opportunities that help them develop themselves as writers and writing teachers. Although teachers’ relationship to writing and the pedagogy of writing has been studied in recent years (i.e. Cremin and Oliver 2017; Martin, Tarnanen, and Tynjälä 2018; Yoo 2018), there remains a gap in the research on teachers as writers and as writing teachers, and the dynamic interplay between these two roles (e.g. Cremin et al. 2020). Both the academic literature and educational policy documents have emphasised that in order to support teachers’professional development, teachers should be offered both © 2021 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. CONTACT Anne Martin anne.martin@jyu.fi NEW WRITING https://doi.org/10.1080/14790726.2021.1900274 individual and personally inspiring education that facilitates the development of both teachers and school communities (OECD 2019; Senge et al. 2012). Therefore, in addition to supporting teachers personally, teachers’professional development should aim at developing schools and supporting pupils’learning (e.g. Avalos 2011; Senge et al. 2012). Furthermore, despite the rewarding and motivating nature of teaching, teacher stress is a global challenge for education (Johnson et al. 2005; Steinhardt et al. 2011) and, therefore, several studies have suggested that teachers’professional development should incorporate support for bouncing back and dealing with emotions. This paper thus views teachers’ professional development holistically, taking into consideration different aspects of teachers’lives, such as personal experiences, classroom pedagogy, school development, and social aspects (Akkerman and Meijer 2011; Alsup 2019; Beauchamp and Thomas 2009; Bell and Gilbert 1996). According to recent studies, teachers perceive that writing about their lives can support their professional development (e.g. Anspal, Eisenschmidt, and Löfström 2012; Schultz and Ravitch 2013; Selland 2017). Overall, creativity and creative expression might bring new perspectives to teachers’pedagogical thinking and teaching actions (Loveless 2012). However, more research is needed on concrete practices that can support teachers’professional development as a whole through creative writing as a creative arts-based method (e.g. Martin, Tarnanen, and Tynjälä 2018; Selland 2017). To fill the research gap described above, this paper studies supporting teachers’professional development in a teachers’creative writing group. Aiming at contributing to the growing area of qualitative arts-based research, the present study utilises narrative methods to illustrate the teachers’unique experiences and to bring out their voices as writers and teachers. This article presents a creative nonfiction piece called A Year of Creative Writing, where the first author has conveyed the findings from the empirical data in the form of a story that uses techniques of fiction (Sinner 2013; Smith 2016). Holistic approach to teachers’professional development through creative writing practices During the last few decades, research on teacher development has moved beyond the ‘teachers’acquisition of “assets”, such as knowledge, competencies, or beliefs as the basis of professional development’(Akkerman and Meijer 2011, 308) towards a more holistic understanding of being a teacher, a shift that integrates teacher development with teacher identity. For example, Bell and Gilbert (1996) have stated that the social, personal and professional dimensions are intertwined in the processes that support teachers’professional development (see also Geeraerts et al. 2015). On the other hand, teachers’professional development can be depicted as processes of learning, growth and development of teachers’expertise, leading to changes in their practice to support their pupils’learning (Avalos 2011). Taken together, this paper views teachers’professional development as a process of extending teachers self-knowledge, including reflecting on identity, and simultaneously, as a process of developing pedagogical, social and personal skills that aim at supporting learning. The present study underlines that teacher identity cannot be clearly divided into ‘professional identity’and ‘personal identity’(Alsup 2019). This interconnectedness between the personal and professional is highlighted in the dialogical approach to teacher identity, 2A. MARTIN ET AL. which views the complex nature of identity as simultaneously multiple and unified, discontinuous and continuous, and social and individual (see Akkerman and Meijer 2011). When leaning towards the idea of teacher identity as constantly shaping and dynamic and involving both personal and professional aspects of identity (Beauchamp and Thomas 2009), teachers’identity work is understood as a process of expanding self-knowledge through reflecting on personal and professional experiences (Stenberg 2010). In sum, the holistic approach to professional development includes a holistic understanding of teacher identity. This paper examines creative writing as a means for supporting teachers’professional development. Next, taking into consideration the holistic nature of teacher development, we will discuss writing from the perspectives of narrative identity work (me as a person; a writer and a teacher), and pedagogical development as writing teachers (me as a writing teacher). The present study views professional development from a narrative perspective: we build our own identities as we narrate our lives and share those narratives with others, and our identities are shaped and reformed by narratives told by our families, friends, colleagues and society (e.g. Bruner 1987; Brockmeier and Carbaugh 2001; Ricoeur 1991). In addition to supporting teacher development, storytelling can give teachers a voice in the educational research field, and therefore teacher stories can also develop the teaching profession itself (Breault 2010). Creative writing researchers suggest that writing can enhance teachers’professional development through narrative identity work: creative writing allows us to deal with our experiences and emotions from different perspectives, change perspective, step back from or zoom into a certain experience or emotion, and find new ways to express ourselves (Bolton 1999,2006; Hunt 2000; Kosonen 2015). Telling, writing and sharing stories about our life experiences allows us to stop and reflect on our lives from different perspectives, and can thus have a long-lasting positive impact on our development and our lives (Ihanus 2019; Pennebaker and Chung 2007). In addition, creative writing can enhance our learning capability. Based on their research on expressive writing’seffects on health, Sexton et al. (2009) suggest that expressive writing can enhance the writer’s working memory functions, as expressing stressful thoughts can free space in their working memory. Finally, Csikszentmihalyi (1990) sees creative writing as a natural way of achieving a flow state, an optimal state in which the individual experiences such high enjoyment and intrinsic motivation towards the task at hand that they lose their sense of time or feel otherwise emotionally elevated. Experiencing flow can enhance wellbeing (Boniwell 2012) by helping recover from work and recharge, which, in turn, lowers stress levels and motivates self-development. According to a literature review by Cremin and Oliver (2017), pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes that give opportunities to reflect on personal writing histories, engage in writing, discuss textual processes and participate in a community of practice, can influence teachers’pedagogical practices as well as their perceptions of themselves as writers. Furthermore, taking part in a teachers’creative writing workshop, instructed by professional writers, encouraged the teachers to increase creative writing in their own classrooms, which seemed to positively impact their pupils’motivation and confidence towards writing (Cremin et al. 2020). Cremin and Oliver (2017) suggest that teachers’confidence as writers influences their pedagogical choices regarding, for NEW WRITING 3 example, whether to offer more reflective approaches to their teaching of writing. Moreover, engaging teachers as creative writers can enhance their professional development and inspire them to develop their pedagogical practices (Yoo 2018). In the light of these findings, teachers’identities as writers and the role of emotions in creative writing processes deserve increased recognition and attention in future research (Cremin and Oliver 2017). Aim of the study and the research question The current study aims at shedding light on teachers’experiences of professional development in a teachers’creative writing group. The aim is to give voice to teachers’diverse stories of being a creative writer and a teacher. The research question is as follows: (1) What kinds of stories of professional development do the teachers narrate regarding their experiences in the writing group? In addition, the methodological aim of the current study is to utilise creative writing an integral part of the narrative analysis process in order to compose a narrative nonfiction piece that illustrates the important themes in the teachers’stories. Methodology The context, participants, and study design During the academic year 2016–2017, 11 Finnish teachers participated in a teachers’creative writing group. The group included three men and eight women, with an age range from 30 to 60 years, who had served as in-service teachers for five to more than thirty years. The writing group, comprising lower and upper comprehensive school (age 7–13 and 13–16, respectively) teachers in a middle-sized Finnish city, met seven times, three hours each time, to engage in creative writing, discuss writing pedagogy and share experiences of being a teacher and a writer. The teachers were recruited via an email invitation sent by the municipal educational administration to all teachers in the school district. In the writing group, teachers wrote different autobiographical creative texts using literary genres to express themselves and to explore their identities. In each session, the teachers did short writing exercises (e.g. freewriting, lists, poems), broader literary exercises (e.g. short stories, letters, dialogues) and discussed their experiences of writing and of teaching writing. The topics of the writing assignments drew on personal experiences that varied from childhood memories to life as a teacher, and they can be described as ‘autobiographical creative writing’, where the writer draws on experiences and memories from his or her own life to create a literary end product (Hunt 2010). To help them develop as writers, the teachers were given feedback by the instructor. Teachers also had opportunities for giving and receiving peer-feedback. In addition to supporting the teachers’personal writing, the social aspect and opportunities for peer support were acknowledged in facilitating the writing group. Drawing from personal experience as a peer-group mentor and theoretical knowledge of 4A. MARTIN ET AL. peer-group mentoring for teacher development (Pennanen, Heikkinen, and Tynjälä 2020; Tynjälä et al. 2019), the instructor of the writing group and the first author of this paper sought to create a positive experience for the participants. Ways of supporting the success of the group were physical and practical, such as serving refreshments and arranging the meetings at a convenient time in an aesthetic, pleasant space with good air quality; social, such as giving time for open conversation; and structural, such as creating a clear structure for the group meetings (Tynjälä et al. 2019). Each group meeting started with a short warm-up writing assignment and introduction round, followed by one to three longer writing assignments. Each meeting featured discussions on writing and pedagogy. The teachers mostly wrote by themselves and did not share their writings with their peers. However, in most meetings the teachers were also asked if they wanted to read aloud one of the texts they had written that day, and in one of the meetings, the teachers participated in a collaborative online-writing drama assignment. In the last two meetings, the teachers were divided into small groups in order to give and receive peer feedback on their writing. As the writing group was a part of the instructor’s research process, she took copies of most of the writing assignments, but emphasised that sharing their writings with her was optional. During the year, the instructor kept the teachers informed of how she was planning to utilise the data she had gathered, and shared with them, for example, a narrative poem she had composed from the teachers’creative writing assignments (Martin, Tarnanen, and Tynjälä 2018). Ethical questions were taken into consideration following the principles of the Finnish National Advisory Board on Research Ethics. Participants gave written consent to take part in the study, and the names used in this paper are pseudonyms. Data and methods The data of the current study consist of (1) creative writing assignments (one from each11 participants) written by the teachers who participated in the writing group, and (2) interviews of each 11 participants (150 pages of transcribed interviews). Firstly, the written data were collected in the last meeting of the group. The teachers were given an assignment to freely write about their experiences of the creative writing group, reflecting on how the group had met their expectations and what they had learned and achieved in the group. This assignment was free form, meaning that the teachers were able to decide what literary genre to use. These creative writings varied from journal pages to letters and poems. Secondly, after the group’s last meeting, each teacher took part in an individual semi-structured interview in which they continued to reflect on their perceptions of the writing group with respect to their development as writers and teachers. A narrative researcher can take on a position of (1) a ‘story analyst’or (2) a ‘storyteller’, which are equivalent to (1) ‘analysis of narratives’and (2) ‘narrative analysis’(Polkinghorne 1995; Smith 2016). However, Smith (2016) reminds us that a researcher can simultaneously operate both as a story analyst and a storyteller in order to best serve the purpose of the research at hand. In the current study, the analysis can be divided into two phases, in which the first utilised the ‘story analyst’or ‘analysis of narratives’ approach, and the second the ‘storyteller’or ‘narrative analysis’approach. Combining NEW WRITING 5 these two standpoints, we were able to form a deep and profound understanding of the data and to compose a nonfiction narrative of the teachers’stories. The data analysis proceeded as follows. First, the data was carefully read multiple times. Transcription, preliminary notes and codes were carried out shortly after collecting the data. The primary analysis was conducted by applying reflexive thematic analysis as developed by Braun and Clarke (2019), which, according to Lainson, Braun, and Clarke (2019), can be a practical medium in narratively informed research. This part of the analysis started with deep familiarisation with the data and generating codes that identified important features of the data regarding the research question. The next phases aimed at creating and naming themes that represent different perspectives or facets of creative writing as a means for supporting professional development. The themes were: (1) Aspects of writer identity, (2) Aspects of personal growth and emotions, (3) Pedagogical aspects, and (4) Social aspects. Within those concepts, 15 subthemes were created. Finally, with respect to each theme, the first author of this article composed a short story called A Year of Creative Writing through a ‘reflective, participatory, and aesthetic process’(Leavy 2020). This narrative method can be referred to as ‘creative nonfiction’, where findings from the empirical data are conveyed in the form of a story that uses techniques of fiction (Sinner 2013; Smith 2016). According to Sinner (2013), the literary form of creative nonfiction renders contents (facts and events) with form (the conventions of fiction writing), including narrative voice, persona, authentic characterisation of place and settings, and pursuit of an idea or a goal. It aims at creating conditions to ‘reconsider, rethink and redefine how information is understood and what knowing should be at the forefront in scholarship’, thus moving ‘toward greater social, political and intellectual consciousness’(Sinner 2013, 4). In this study, creating the nonfiction piece aims at a holistic approach, thus moving from merely dividing the themes of professional development in the teachers’stories into distinct categories. In the nonfiction piece, the first author has incorporated the teachers’own phrases from their reflective creative writing assignments to elaborate, bring out and respect the teachers’own unique voices. Once the creative nonfiction piece was completed, the first author contacted the former members of the creative writing group, offering them a chance to read it and comment, if, for example, they wished their phrases to be removed, or felt unable to identify with the piece. The composing on the creative nonfiction piece joins this study into the tradition of narrative ‘storytelling’, that is, incorporating fiction and qualitative research. Leavy (2020) argues that using forms of fiction as a research practice allows us to (1) portray the complexity of lived experience through details, nuance, specificity, contexts, and texture, (2) cultivate empathy and self-reflection through relatable characters, and (3) disrupts dominant ideologies or stereotypes by showing and not telling, thus building critical consciousness and raising awareness (Leavy 2020). At its core, utilising fiction in narrative research aims at making a change and broadening the readers’views through appealing to the readers’imagination and challenging the readers’ideas about educational phenomena (Kim 2008). In this study, we have aimed at giving voice to the teachers while examining their stories, in forms of the creative writing assignments and the interviews, within the framework and context of the cultural and political atmosphere in the educational field of the time. Through this approach we hope to combine ‘theory and stories’(Kim 2008, 257), or, 6A. MARTIN ET AL. in other words, shift from the micro level (teachers’personal experiences of the creative writing group) to the macro level (theoretical perspectives of professional development during educational reforms), thus bringing validity to our work (Leavy 2020). In order to combine art and research, we have adapted Kim’s(2008) Bakhtinian novelness in our narrative work, which refers to using different voices that present partial truths of equal participants (polyphony), placing the stories in context (chronotope), and placing counternarratives as equals to the mainstream ones (carnival). Findings The findings of this study are presented in the form of a creative nonfiction piece called A Year of Creative Writing. The nonfiction piece illustrates the teachers’perceptions of the creative writing group through the perspective of a fictional first-person narrator. The nonfiction piece is divided into four chapters, each of which portrays the teacherwriter’s experiences from the viewpoint of one of the theme drawn from the reflexive thematic analysis. Within the nonfiction piece, phrases from the teachers’original creative writing assignments are highlighted in italic font. It should be noted that in the data of this study, the different themes or aspects of professional development were often intertwined. Therefore, each theme is present on some level in each chapter. Following the creative nonfiction piece, the themes and subthemes of the teachers’narratives are further discussed. A year of creative writing Summer [Aspects of writer identity] Why did I stop writing? I’ve been asking myself that question over again for the past few years, but this is the first time I’ve actually sat down and written about it. It’d be easy to answer this question on a shallow level. It’d be easy to point an accusing finger at the hurries and worries of everyday life, to explain that most of my time nowadays goes on taking care of my pupils, my kids, the home. Taking care of myself is limited to exercising when I can and the odd night out with friends. There’s simply no time for writing. But I know, though, that the real answer isn’t that simple. There’s a deeper reason for my absence from writing. I’m scared of what I might discover if I go back to the pen and a blank page. What if nothing comes?What if my dream is nothing but an empty shell? I am afraid, afraid that writing will bring back hurtful memories and invoke painful feelings. Until recently, I believed that if I just keep a distance from it and stay busy, it would stay under control. I used to fear that if I stop rushing and start listening to myself I’d lose that precious control and break down. But what if, actually, it’s the opposite? What if facing myself and allowing myself time to reflect on my life would help me become a better person? What if being brave and creative could help me become a better teacher to the kids who need me to encourage them? When I heard about this group, I immediately felt it was meant for me. I had to come, no matter how scared I was. Now I am here, in a peaceful classroom in the university’s newest building, where everything is white, with a subtle scent of new timber in the air. Instead of driving the kids to their hobbies, I now have my own hobby marked and circled on my calender. Iam NEW WRITING 7 Disclosure statement No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors. Notes on contributors Anne Martin is a researcher at the Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. She has worked in several projects in the educational field, and her recent publications focus on supporting teachers’professional development. Her doctoral thesis explores supporting teachers’professional development in creative writing communities. Her research interests are narrative research, lifelong teacher education, teachers’professional development, and creative writing. Mirja Tarnanen, PhD, is a professor at the Department of Teacher Education, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research interests are teacher education, language education, and teaching and learning communities. Her recent publications deal with (multi)literacy and assessment practices across the curriculum; migrant integration and education; policies and practices in adult second language teaching; and development of teacher education. Päivi Tynjälä, PhD, is a professor at the Finnish Institute for Educational Research, University of Jyväskylä, Finland. Her research area is learning and teaching in higher education. Her studies focus particularly on learning at the interface between higher education and the world of work, and the professional development of teachers. She has published widely both nationally and internationally and served as Editor-in-Chief of the Educational Research Review. Currently, she is an editorial board member of Educational Research Review, and Vocations and Learning. ORCID Anne Martin http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4434-4975 Mirja Tarnanen http://orcid.org/0000-0002-4585-4822 Päivi Tynjälä http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2158-8988 References Akkerman, S. F., and P. C. Meijer. 2011.“A Dialogical Approach to Conceptualizing Teacher Identity.” Teaching and Teacher Education 27 (2): 308–319. Alsup, J. 2019.Millennial Teacher Identity Discourses: Balancing Self and Other. New York: Routledge. Anspal, T., E. Eisenschmidt, and E. Löfström. 2012.“Finding Myself as a Teacher: Exploring the Shaping of Teacher Identities Through Student Teachers’Narratives.”Teachers and Teaching 18 (2): 197–216. doi:10.1080/13540602.2012.632268. Avalos, B. 2011.“Teacher Professional Development in Teaching and Teacher Education Over Ten Years.”Teaching and Teacher Education 27 (1): 10–20. Beauchamp, C., and L. Thomas. 2009.“Understanding Teacher Identity: An Overview of Issues in the Literature and Implications for Teacher Education.”Cambridge Journal of Education 39 (2): 175– 189. Bell, B., and J. K. Gilbert. 1996.Teacher Development: A Model from Science Education. London: Psychology Press. Berger, R. 2015.“Now I See It, Now I Don’t: Researcher’s Position and Reflexivity in Qualitative Research.”Qualitative Research 15 (2): 219–234. Bolton, G. 1999.The Therapeutic Potential of Creative Writing: Writing Myself. London: Jessica Kingsley. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&AN=117506. Bolton, G. 2006.“Narrative Writing: Reflective Enquiry into Professional Practice.”Educational Action Research 14 (2): 203–218. 14 A. MARTIN ET AL. Boniwell, Ilona. 2012.Positive Psychology in a Nutshell: The Science of Happiness. 3rd ed. London: Open University Press. https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/[SITE_ID]/detail.action?docID= 1037310. Braun, V., and V. Clarke. 2019.“Reflecting on Reflexive Thematic Analysis.”Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health 11 (4): 589–597. doi:10.1080/2159676X.2019.1628806. Breault, R. A. 2010.“Distilling Wisdom from Practice: Finding Meaning in PDS Stories.”Teaching and Teacher Education 26 (3): 399–407. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2009.04.013. Brockmeier, J., and D. Carbaugh. 2001.Narrative and Identity: Studies in Autobiography, Self and Culture. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. Bruner, J. 1987.“Life as Narrative.”Social Research 54 (1): 11–32. Cremin, T., and L. Oliver. 2017.“Teachers as Writers: A Systematic Review.”Research Papers in Education 32 (3): 269–295. Cremin, T., D. Myhill, I. Eyres, T. Nash, A. Wilson, and L. Oliver. 2020.“Teachers as Writers: Learning Together with Others.”Literacy 54 (2): 49–59. Csikszentmihalyi, M. 1990.Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. New York: Harper & Row. FNBE (Finnish National Board of Education). 2014.National Core Curriculum for Basic Education 2014. Helsinki: Finnish National Board of Education. Geeraerts, K., P. Tynjälä, H. L. T. Heikkinen, I. Markkanen, M. Pennanen, and D. Gijbels. 2015.“Peergroup Mentoring as a Tool for Teacher Development.”European Journal of Teacher Education 38 (3): 358–377. doi:10.1080/02619768.2014.983068. Hunt, C. 2000.Therapeutic Dimensions of Autobiography in Creative Writing. London: Jessica Kingsley. Hunt, C. 2010.“Therapeutic Effects of Writing Fictional Autobiography.”Life Writing 7 (3): 231–244. Ihanus, J. 2019.Transformative Words: Writing Otherness and Identities. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&db=nlabk&AN= 2043482. Johnson, S., C. Cooper, S. Cartwright, I. Donald, P. Taylor, and C. Millet. 2005.“The Experience of Work-Related Stress Across Occupations.”Journal of Managerial Psychology 20 (2): 178–187. doi:10.1108/02683940510579803. Kim, J. 2008.“A Romance with Narrative Inquiry: Toward an act of Narrative Theorizing.”Curriculum & Teaching Dialogue 10: 1–2. Kosonen, P. 2015.“Creative Autobiography, from Self-Knowledge to the Teaching of Writing.” Scriptum Creative Writing Research Journal 2 (2): 14–45. https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/ 46473. Lainson, K., V. Braun, and V. Clarke. 2019.“Being Both Narrative Practitioner and Academic Researcher: A Reflection on What Thematic Analysis has to Offer Narratively Informed Research.”International Journal of Narrative Therapy & Community Work 2019 (4): 86. Leavy, P. 2020.Method Meets Art: Arts-Based Research Practice. New York: Guilford Publications. Loveless, A. 2012.“Body and Soul: A Study of Narratives of Learning Lives of Creative People who Teach.”In Explorations in Narrative Research, edited by I. F. Goodson, A. M. Loveless, and D. Stephens, 107–121. Brill Sense. Martin, A., M. Tarnanen, and P. Tynjälä. 2018.“Exploring Teachers’Stories of Writing: A Narrative Perspective.”Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice 24 (6): 690–705. OECD. 2019.TALIS 2018 Results (Volume I): Teachers and School Leaders as Lifelong Learners. Paris: OECD Publishing. doi:10.1787/1d0bc92a-en. Pennanen, M., H. L. Heikkinen, and P. Tynjälä. 2020.“Virtues of Mentors and Mentees in the Finnish Model of Teachers’Peer-Group Mentoring.”Scandinavian Journal of Educational Research 64 (3): 355–371. Pennebaker, J. W., and C. K. Chung. 2007.“Expressive Writing, Emotional Upheavals, and Health.”In Foundations of Health Psychology, edited by H. S. Friedman and R. C. Silver, 263–284. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Peterson, S. S. 2008.Writing Across the Curriculum: All Teachers Teach Writing. Winnipeg: Portage & Main Press. Polkinghorne, D. E. 1995.“Narrative Configuration in Qualitative Analysis.”International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education 8 (1): 5–23. doi:10.1080/0951839950080103. NEW WRITING 15 Ricoeur, P. 1991.“Narrative Identity.”Philosophy Today 35 (1): 73–81. Schultz, K., and S. M. Ravitch. 2013.“Narratives of Learning to Teach: Taking on Professional Identities.”Journal of Teacher Education 64 (1): 35–46. Selland, M. K. 2017.“The Edge of Messy: Interplays of Daily Storytelling and Grand Narratives in Teacher Learning.”Teachers and Teaching 23 (3): 244–261. doi:10.1080/13540602.2016.1205016. Senge, P. M., N. Cambron-McCabe, T. Lucas, B. Smith, and J. Dutton. 2012.Schools that Learn (Updated and Revised): A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone who Cares About Education. New York: Crown Business. Sexton, J. D., J. W. Pennebaker, C. G. Holzmueller, A. W. Wu, S. M. Berenholtz, S. M. Swoboda, and J. B. Sexton. 2009.“Care for the Caregiver: Benefits of Expressive Writing for Nurses in the United States.”Progress in Palliative Care 17 (6): 307–312. Sinner, A. 2013.Unfolding the Unexpectedness of Uncertainty: Creative Nonfiction and the Lives of Becoming Teachers. Boston: Springer. Smith, B. 2016.“Narrative Analysis.”Analysing Qualitative Data in Psychology 2: 202–221. Steinhardt, M. A., S. E. Smith Jaggars, K. E. Faulk, and C. T. Gloria. 2011.“Chronic Work Stress and Depressive Symptoms: Assessing the Mediating Role of Teacher Burnout.”Stress and Health 27 (5): 420–429. Stenberg, K. 2010.“Identity Work as a Tool for Promoting the Professional Development of Student Teachers.”Reflective Practice 11 (3): 331–346. doi:10.1080/14623943.2010.490698. Tynjälä, P., M. Pennanen, I. Markkanen, and H. L. Heikkinen. 2019.“Finnish Model of Peer-Group Mentoring: Review of Research.”Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, doi:10.1111/nyas. 14296. Yoo, J. 2018.“Teachers as Creative Writers: Needs, Desires and Opportunities for Growth.”New Writing 15 (3): 300–310. 16 A. MARTIN ET AL.