Researching Teacher Education Practices: Responding to the Challenges, Demands, and Expectations of Self-Study

Source: Journal of Teacher Education, Vol. 58, No. 1, 12-20 (2007)

This article explores the nature of self-study of teacher education practices by examining what self-study is and how it might be conducted and reported. In working through these ideas, the article makes an argument for the need for learning through self-study to be documented in ways that might not only be accessible to others but also meaningful for their practice in teaching about teaching.

Although the term self-study suggests a singular and individual approach to researching practice, the reality is that self-studies are dramatically strengthened by drawing on alternative perspectives and reframing of situations, thus data, ideas, and input that necessitate moving beyond the self. Moving beyond the self also matters because a central purpose in self-study is uncovering deeper understandings of the relationship between teaching about teaching and learning about teaching.

This article argues a need for these deeper understandings to be developed in ways that enhance an articulation of a pedagogy of teacher education.