Narrative and Education

In this paper we explore the question ‘What does it mean to have an education?’. Our search for an answer to that question led us, to link education with life. We were drawn to narrative texts rather than argument texts. We analyze Michael Oakeshott and Erik Erikson's works to make the point that education is a life process. The autobiographical writing of Mary Catherine Bateson and Henry Adams led us to a view of education as transcending schooling and as referring to life development. We propose a view of education in terms of cultivations, awakenings, and transformations. Oliver Sacks's work with sleeping sickness is used to develop the idea of cultivations and awakenings and of how these are interwoven with education and life. We conclude with the question ‘How do I be an educator?’.