Shaping the professional identity of an educator through self-study

Abstract

The focus is a self-study of my own practice and how I investigated my educative practice in facilitating the professional learning of a group of teacher researchers. Two key questions are answered: How did I support teacher researchers with their inquiries? How did this contribution shape my professional identity as an educator? This self-study focus draws on hermeneutic phenomenology, Whitehead’s discussion of ‘living educational theory’ and the use of dialectics to explain the process of change as it applied to professional practice. The data comprise audio-taped conversations with teacher researchers during meetings to discuss and share their classroom inquiries. These conversations were interpreted and analysed in relation to my professional learning and the impact I made on teacher researchers undertaking their inquiry and reflecting on their research. Through this interpretation I was able to critically evaluate the support given to teacher researchers and to identify a number of professional claims that describe how the role of professional friend shaped my professional identity as an educator. To illustrate further the claims made, the article draws on data collected over a four-year period with Heidi, a teacher researcher, as she continued her classroom inquiries and the construction of her professional learning portfolio.

Keywords:

• self-study
• hermeneutic phenomenology
• action research
• reflective practice
• learning community