The Making of a Music: The Construction and Reconstruction of a Teacher's Personal Practical Knowledge during Inquiry

ABSTRACT

This is a narrative study of the construction and reconstruction of professional knowledge, where narrative is understood as both phenomenon and method. It is the story of one teacher's professional growth and development through inquiry, and the making of a new unity of the self within a professional context that is described as the making of a music. The story is told by the consultant/researcher/collaborator whose interest in narrative, in teacher development, in the construction and reconstruction of professional knowledge, and in educational change led her into this collaborative inquiry with Anne, the teacher in the study.

In this article I describe the ways in which Anne experienced the realities of change and in which she reconstructed her professional knowledge and came to new and more significant understandings of herself and others with whom she was in relation in her professional setting. Through the use of various narrative forms, I present the qualities and characteristics of one teacher's experience of change and professional development through inquiry, reflection, and discourse. I show that, within interacting narratives where lives come together, influence each other, and become increasingly more responsive to each other, professional development and change can take place, and individuals can re-form themselves and their communities. In musical terms, this involves the struggle to hear one's own voice and the voices of others, learning to hear each other within the contexts of each other's lives, and the making of a new music of the self within the professional context.