Memory Rewriting as a Method of Inquiry: When Returning Becomes Collective Healing

Authors

Ethan Trinh, Georgia State UniversityFollow
GIANG NGUYEN HOANG LE Mr., Brock UniversityFollow
Ha Dong, University of ManitobaFollow
Trang Tran, University of ManitobaFollow
Vuong Tran, Nipissing UniversityFollow

Abstract

Writing is collective healing to build a community. We, five Vietnamese bodies, enquire, how can individual memories be collective healing to rewrite a better future of education? We borrow Nhat Hanh’s philosophy to touch on our suffering to heal and Barad’s returning as a multiplicity of processes for reconnecting with the pastpresentfuture. We use the recollection of individual memories to share critical incidents of past experiences to build a collective community for healing purposes. We have demonstrated our deep commitment to creating a resilient system in retelling stories and rewriting for hope for educational change through this process.

Keywords

returning, memory rewriting, collective healing, Thich Nhat Hanh, Karen Barad

Author Bio(s)

Ethan Trinh (they/them; ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9555-0122) is a Vietnamese queer immigrant TESOL teacher. Ethan is teaching and pursuing their doctorate at Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA. They are interested in critical queer scholarship, new materialism, posthumanism, meditation, and qualitative inquiry in English language education. Please direct correspondence to ethan.trinh14@gmail.com.

Giang Le (he/him; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0166-5974) is a Ph.D. candidate in Educational Studies, at Brock University, Canada. He is working extensively in the field of gender and sexuality in schooling. He is using multimodal visual autoethnography to study his lived experiences as a gay boy in multiple contexts of being, living, and becoming, in Vietnam, which is his country of origin. Please direct correspondence to GIANGLEE89@GMAIL.COM.

Ha B. Dong (she/her; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8321-3703) is a graduate student in the Joint M.A. program in Peace and Conflict Studies at University of Manitoba, Canada. Her research is concerned with healing and reconciliation, strategic peacebuilding, and decolonization in peacebuilding and education. Please direct correspondence to dongc4@myumanitoba.ca.

Trang Tran (she/her; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6867-7729) is a student of the M.Ed program at the University of Manitoba, Canada. Her research interests include cross-cultural topics (i.e., acculturation and multiculturalism) as well as sociological issues (i.e., inequality, shadow education, and gifted education). Please direct correspondence to trant8@myumanitoba.ca.

Vuong Trang (he/him; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3538-8394) is a PhD student in Education Sustainability at Nipissing University, Canada. His research interests lie in equity and inclusion in education, social justice for LGBTQ+ people, and financial literacy education. Please direct correspondence to thv1802@gmail.com.

Publication Date

3-18-2022

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.

DOI

10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5245

Recommended APA Citation

Trinh, E., LE, G. H., Dong, H., Tran, T., & Tran, V. (2022). Memory Rewriting as a Method of Inquiry: When Returning Becomes Collective Healing. The Qualitative Report, 27(3), 824-841. https://doi.org/10.46743/2160-3715/2022.5245

ResearcherID

ORCID: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-9555-0122 ; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0166-5974; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8321-3703; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6867-7729; ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3538-8394