The role of narrative writing in improving professional practice

Abstract

The use of narratives in the social sciences has drastically increased throughout recent decades. They are mainly used as a way of collecting data and as a way of promoting professional development. This article sheds light on how a practitioner-researcher engaged in narrative writing and how this helped in what is hereby termed a reflective odyssey. More specifically, the main focus here is how the very act of writing when keeping a personal journal can act as a catalyst for ongoing reflective thought. Therefore, narratives were firstly used by the practitioner-researcher as a form of personal professional development. However, they also acted as data in the longitudinal process of understanding how narrative writing can aid in the continuous striving for improving professional practice. Original narrative extracts are presented throughout the text to back the claims made for narrative writing. This gives a unique opportunity to the reader to get a glimpse of the practitioner-researcher’s thought processes and dilemmas. The roles of writing in meaning creation and representation; pushing thinking into unforeseen directions; and the promotion of ‘conversing with oneself’ and self-understanding are discussed in this article.