Autobiographical writing as a teaching tool across disciplines

This article seeks to promote the use of ‘narratives of the self’ in educational contexts, particularly in higher education. I argue that autobiographical writing provides a meaningful learning opportunity by capitalising on students’ engagement with their own lived experiences. This conceptual paper builds on recent contributions to Education for Sustainable Development by situating autobiographical writing within debates on authenticity, non-traditional and creative assessments. My analysis highlights the unfamiliar nature of autobiographical writing, as learners explore a set of resources that they do not typically associate with academic study. This article champions non-directive, student-centred approaches to learning. It also identifies critical considerations for integrating autobiographical writing as a teaching tool and examines these in parallel with key features of academic literacies. To bridge theory and practice, I conclude by providing a case study that uses a linguistic autobiography as an assessment component and focus on examining teaching resources that scaffold knowledge.