Gender, literacy, and teaching practices of three women who teach high school English

This life history study examined the literacy narratives of three women who teach English in high school. The primary data included multiple oral interviews that were audiotaped and transcribed, feedback by participants regarding the transcriptions, participants' written responses to oral questions, written summaries of participants' literacy narratives, and electronic mail correspondence. Secondary data sources included the researcher's written memoranda of field observations and a personal journal of reflections.; Multiple narratives were written, including: (a) the women's literacy narratives stated in each narrator's edited words; (b) the women's literacy narratives as written, interpreted, and analyzed by the researcher; (c) the women's own written narratives; and (d) a narrative that compares and analyzes themes across the three women's stories.; Analysis was guided by poststructural feminist and Bakhtin's dialogic theories. The women's narratives reflect, to varying degrees, their awareness of themselves as women who are their own agents in authoring their lives. They view teaching as an opportunity to continue their personal connections to literature and as an expression of their maternal instincts. The women's notions of caring reflect Nell Noddings's belief that caring extends beyond nurturance to include caring about ideas. For these three women, teaching English connects their love and passion for literature with their desire to nurture and care for students. The narratives also reflect that women are not equally privileged or unprivileged. Gender as a construct is complex and must be examined in conjunction with a matrix of other influences such as class and historical time period.