Search results

In this chapter, the details of the design chosen to uncover teacher educator knowledge for this study are explained. By choosing Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP), this methodology positions researchers to examine their own practice and explore beliefs and moral and political values, thereby adding to the research conversation of teacher education, and also turn what we learn into improvement of practice. Self-study of practice is a methodology but without a proscribed set of methods. Rather, other methods of qualitative analysis are employed in self-study. A variety of qualitative methods such as dialogue, a critical friend, exemplars, and analytic narrative vignettes were selected and implemented in order to collect, organize, analyze, and present the data. Issues of positionality and ethics are also addressed. This chapter ends with a discussion about trustworthiness and rigor in relation to methodological approaches and strategies employed in qualitative research, especially highlighting the inherent vulnerable nature of self-study research, and the importance of protecting participants and researchers.

This is a book for teacher educators. It is also a book for teacher candidates and educational stakeholders who are interested in using storied practice in teacher education. It is about teacher educators and teacher candidates as curriculum makers (Clandinin & Connelly, 1992) who engage in narrative inquiry practice. As editors of this volume, we came to this important writing project as a result of our respective work using narrative inquiry that originated from our studies with Dr. Michael Connelly and Dr. Jean Clandinin. In a large sense, this book represents our interpretations, as second-generation narrative inquirers, of three main ideas: narrative inquiry, curriculum making, and teacher education. Narrative inquiry, curriculum making, and teacher education are vitally interconnected concepts that offer an alternative way of understanding the current landscape of education. Narrative inquiry in teacher education would not have been possible without the groundbreaking work of Connelly and Clandinin.

Judith Barak is the former head of the ACE program, is currently head of the graduate school of education at Kaye Academic College of Education in Beer Sheva, Israel. Her work focuses on educational innovations and creating collaborative relations. Her research aims at a deeper understanding of learning environments and their interrelations to professional development processes. She is involved mostly in collaborative self-study stemming from her lived experiences. Recent publications include “From the inside out: Learning to understand and appreciate multiple voices through telling identities” (2009), “‘Without stones there is no arch’: A study of professional development of teacher educators as a team” (2010), and “Conversations in a collaborative space: From stories to concepts to dimensions” (2010).