This presentation explores the collective biography method as a narrative pedagogy utilized to support professional development and learning. The presentation draws on our reflections on using the collective biography method in our teaching in teacher education and in facilitating peer groups for teacher educators and academics. The collective biography method (also called memory-work method) was originally developed as a research method by Frigga Haug and her colleagues (Haug, 1987). However, the method has also been used as a pedagogical method in teacher education (Kutuniva & Ylitapio-Mäntylä, 2005; Ovens & Tinning, 2009) and more broadly as a data collection and analysis method in academic studies (Khawaja, 2022; Ylitapio-Mäntylä & Mäkiranta, 2010). The collective biography method entails recalling and sharing childhood memories in a group setting. These memories are then explored collectively in the group in relation to social structures or cultural and social phenomena, such as equality and gendered practices from the perspective of power constructions (Mnemo et al., 2025). The use of the collective biography method reveals the often-hidden gendered norms and cultural practices, helping participants, for example teachers and students, to recognize how these practices shape interactions and identities. In practice, the group will select together a particular theme to work with. Each participant then writes about a specific childhood event related to the selected theme. It is guided in the collective biography method that these memories should be detailed, as concrete as possible and written in the third person. The written memory is then shared and read aloud in the group. This phase is then followed by a collective reflection and analytical discussion. In the collective biography method, it is highlighted that working with memories fosters collective learning and professional development, allowing participants to co-create knowledge, ponder together varying viewpoints and to become aware of and recognize norms and practices. This aligns with the core of narrative pedagogies which lies not only in the telling and sharing of stories, but also in how they enable critical reflection, challenging, questioning, and learning (Estola et al., 2014; Kelchtermans, 2014).

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