I thought to myself: what a long way I’ve come … : teacher writing for professional learning

Abstract

As governments the world over continue to advocate the importance of teacher professional learning, researchers and practitioners continue to explore ways to enact that learning in meaningful ways. The value of narrative for teacher education has been widely discussed and several studies show that learning is significant when teacher–writers engage in written dialogue. This article is a critical, narrative-based account of the professional learning of Orly, an Israeli teacher. Written reflection and narrative play a crucial mediating role in her learning. This practitioner inquiry explores narrative writing as a means of learning, empowerment and professional renewal for Israeli educators. The author presents multiple ways in which language from a professional learning context can connect with classroom practice and discusses the dialogical nature of this kind of learning.

Keywords:

• professional learning
• teacher writing
• practitioner inquiry
• narrative inquiry
• dialogical learning

Acknowledgements

I thank Orly for permission to present her writing; her contribution to this article is immense. In addition, I sincerely thank Professor Brenton Doecke, Dr Graham Parr and the two anonymous reviewers for their constructive comments.