In some classrooms, student scores are even posted on the wall to foster competition. I proctor multiple assessments each year, and the ramping up of high-stakes testing has put fear of failure front-and-center in many students’ minds-and teachers and administrators, too. Counternarratives offer opportunities for us-students and teachers alike-to not just accept the stories the world tells us, but to practice becoming the authors of what comes next. They are followed by possible counternarratives, shifts in perception that we can teach and, more importantly, model for our students. What follows are examples of three narratives that commonly unfold in classrooms. For me, my personal narrative of self-doubt and struggle has synthesized with a counternarrative of overcoming obstacles, of opposition that led to transformation. I know I have my story, and it definitely has colored how I have approached teaching. There are realities, sure, but stories also have power to create reality. We may perceive our school communities as allies or obstacles. We may share internalized tales of feeling misunderstood and disenfranchised.

We carry personal myths about where we came from and how we got here.

We teachers have our narratives, too, whether or not we think of them as such. The better I understand the narratives at work in their lives, the better position I’m in to help students-especially disengaged students-develop counternarratives to stories that may be holding them back. And those beliefs-their narratives-have a profound influence on whether or not they think they can succeed, whether or not they perceive education as a springboard or cinder block. As the best storytellers do, they have shown me their stories, giving glimpses of their backgrounds and beliefs. Instead, it’s been my job as a teacher to pick up on the little clues they have dropped day in and day out. I know well how the narratives we tell ourselves about ourselves shape what we believe we can and cannot do. As a middle school English teacher, sometimes I wished I could have simply asked my students that question.

Counter storytelling