+
Self study
One needs to stand in one’s own vulnerability in
order for it to become a strength.
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Living Educational Theory
“It is living because, as people engage in
understanding it, they learn more and their
theory changes as they understand more.
Further, because they are living what they
learn, new knowledge emerges.”
J. Whitehead
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Self-study can encompass a variety
of methodologies
 Auto-ethnography
(e.g. C. Ellis)
 Reflective
Action Research (e.g. M.
Cochran-Smith)
 Narrative
 Core
Inquiry (e.g. J. Clandinin)
Reflection (F. Korthagen)
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Indicators of quality self-study
 Thorough
description of the context, data
collection, and analysis
 Thoughtful
problematization of the researcher
and her practice
 Indications
for how the study changed the
researcher’s practice*
 Description
of how it might contribute to the
knowledge base for teaching
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Qualitative methods
Data collection often occurs through these
methods
 Journaling
 Observations
 Communications
 Videotaping
 Work
samples
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Analysis
 Constant
Comparative Method
(Grounded theory - Glaser and Strauss)
 Reflexive, retrospective
analysis (R.
Brandenburg)
 Other
qualitative methods
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Critical friends prevent “navel-gazing”
Authentic problematization of one’s practice
can occur through dialogue with one or
more others and/or through reading of
other research to perpetuate the
modification of ideas.
See Costa and Kallick (1993) for more on
critical friends.
+ Classroom Action Research
vs.
Self-study
Action research is focused on studying one’s
practice (plan, action, observe, reflect) and
making changes to one’s teaching
Self-study is focused more on gaining knowledge
about how one’s identity impacts and is
impacted by one’s practice. Improvement may
be both personal and professional.
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Verisimilitude: More than “Truthiness”
Believability of a self-study may be
characterized by
 Humility
 Authenticity
 Vulnerability
A
high level of self-awareness
 Constructive
changes in practice
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Potential Pitfalls to Self-study
 Becoming
overly personal, psycho-analytic, or
“self-involved”
 Not
using systematic data collection and
analysis processes – otherwise it’s story
telling
 Not
adequately connecting it to other teacher
education research
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Contributing to the knowledge base
“For public theory to influence educational
practice it must be translated through the
personal.”
Bullough and Pinnegar (2001)
Questioning the theoretical underpinnings of a
practical venture, “is vital to teacher education if
the importance of the knowledge base for
learning about teaching is to be recognized and
valued in the educational community.”
Loughran & Northfield (1998)
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Example 1: Ann’s Dissertation
I
am a white middle class woman teaching
predominantly white middle class women
how to teach diverse populations. What’s
that about?
 Examination
of my own “transformation” as
I guided student teachers in theirs. How did
my identity impact how I prepared
teachers?
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Example 2: Self-studies in Rural
Teacher Education (Springer 2015)
Education faculty who prepare teachers
study the ways in which one’s identity
impacts their teaching and the partnerships
with rural districts.
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Sample Authors: Amanda Mooney
and Chris Hickey
 Study
looks for points of intersection and
divergence between Rachel’s experiences
and their own biographies to consider the
ways in which place shapes, and can shape,
professional identities and pedagogical
practices in PE.
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My Study: “Coming Out Rural”
How do I know myself as rural?
This study will examine to what extent my
identification as “rural” might contribute to
my ability to work in solidarity with those
who experience inequity as a result of their
ruralness.
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Suggested Readings
 Becoming
a Critically Reflective Teacher
Brookfield (1995)
 The
Courage to Teach: Exploring the Inner
Landscapes of a Teacher’s Life
Palmer (2007)
 The
Ethnographic I: A Methodological novel about
Auto-ethnography
Ellis (2004)
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Brookfield:
The Critically Reflective Process
The critically reflective process happens when
teachers discover and examine their
assumptions by viewing them through four
distinct, though interconnecting lenses:

Autobiographical reflection

Our students’ perspectives

Our colleagues’ perceptions and experience

The lens of literature p. xiii
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Entry Points for Autobiographical
Reflection
 Teaching
 Teacher
 Role
logs
learning audits
model profiles
 Survival
advice memos
 Videotaping
 Peer
observation
 Ideology
critique
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Teaching Log: Sample Prompts
 What
was the moment(s) this month when I felt
most connected, engaged, or affirmed as a teacher
– the moment I thought, “This is what being a
teacher is really all about.”
 What
was the moment(s) this month when I felt
most disconnected, disengaged, or bored as a
teacher – the moment I thought, “I’m just going
through the motions.”
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Teacher Learning Audit: Sample
Think about the past term/year as a teacher, and
respond as honestly as you can.

The most important thing I’ve learned about my
students in the past year is…

The most important thing I’ve learned about my
teaching in the past year is…

The assumptions I’ve had about teaching and
learning that have been most challenged for me
are that…
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Brookfield
 We
all have blind spots in our work as
teachers – practices, assumptions that we
never investigate. Perhaps they feel like
mere details to us. Perhaps they seem so
self-evidently right that we think there’s no
need to examine them. Or perhaps we can’t
see them clearly because they’re too close
to be brought into sharp focus.
p. 71
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Palmer
Good teaching cannot be reduced to
technique; good teaching comes from the
identity and integrity of the teacher.
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Ellis
You'd want to tell a story that readers could
enter and feel a part of. You'd write in a way
to evoke readers to feel and think about
your life and their lives in relation to yours.
(p. 116)
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Other Resources
Journal:
 Studying Teacher
Education: A journal of self-study
of teacher education practices
Books:
 International
Handbook of Self-study of Teaching
and Teacher Education Practices (2004)
 Self-study
of Teaching Practices, Samaras and
Freese (2006)
 Seeking
(2009)
Integrity in Teacher Education, Schulte