Examining Connections Between Teacher Educators' Values, Beliefs, and Actions Through Self-Study

A central tenet of self-study is the systematic analysis and reframing of teacher education practices to build more robust knowledge of pedagogy, of oneself as a professional and of the particular landscapes of teacher educators' work. This issue presents a set of articles that work from, and build on, this principle of self-study. In so doing, these contributions also highlight an important aspect of teacher educators' work that is concerned with explicating and examining the beliefs and values that guide action, and the challenges associated with developing pedagogical approaches consistent with their intent.

The first three articles explore this aspect by unpacking popularized concepts in education for which there is often little agreement over either meaning or implications for teaching. In the opening article, “Multiple Layers of Self in an Evolving Pedagogy of Teacher Education: Conflict and compromise in a quest for classroom democracy,” Nathan Brubaker examines his efforts to understand more fully the enactment of a democratic approach within his teacher education classes. Concerned that teaching democracy requires more than simply teaching subject matter, Brubaker sought to include in his teaching an opportunity for pre-service teachers to experience on a personal level what it means to live democratically within his classes. However, his understanding of democratic ideals did not automatically offer him knowledge of how to act as a teacher educator. His carefully detailed methodological approach provides an excellent exemplar for self-study researchers.

Tim Fletcher and Shawn Bullock also sought to better understand the meaning of a widely used educational concept, in this case, literacy, within their own thinking and actions with pre-service teachers. “Enacting Literacy Pedagogies: A collaborative self-study by teacher educators in physical education and science” details how these two teacher educators worked together to assist each other to interpret the meaning of literacy in their respective content areas of physical education and science. They also challenged each other to analyze the enactment of pedagogies based on their understandings within their respective teacher education classes.

Cheryl Rosaen and Marjorie Terpstra continue the exploration of the concept of literacy and its implications for teaching in “Widening Worlds: Understanding and teaching new literacies.” These two teacher educators sought to expand their pre-service teachers' conceptions of literacy by designing authentic learning experiences to build knowledge of how to incorporate new literacies pedagogies into K-6 teaching and learning. Simultaneously, typical to self-study research, the authors found their own conceptions evolving and influencing the way in which the study itself was conceptualized, structured, and supported. Their work makes explicit the complexities of providing experiences that engage pre-service teachers in exploring an abstract concept in new ways.

The next three articles focus on ways in which colleagues can support the articulation and examination of beliefs and practices as a teacher educator. In “Examining Beliefs and Practices of Self and Others: Pivotal points for change and growth for mathematics teacher educators,” LouAnn Lovin and five colleagues present a self-study examining their beliefs and practices as mathematics teacher educators. Using a variety of methodological tools, these teacher educators were able to articulate the extent to which each valued a given belief, how that belief may or may not manifest in their practices, and how a belief can become more influential in practice.

Recognizing that teacher educators who seek to examine their students' beliefs and actions toward equity and diversity should similarly engage in examination of their own was the impetus for Julie Pennington and six colleagues to develop their self-study, “Teacher Educators' Dispositions: Footnoting the present with stories from our pasts.” These seven authors, from the same university but different discipline areas, used the methodology of critical autoethnography as a self-study tool to analyze their beliefs about their pre-service teachers and themselves. Over a 2-year period, they developed a stronger sense of individual and collective self-awareness, including some unsettling revelations about how issues of power and judgment connect to their expectations of, and interactions with, their pre-service teachers.

The final article, by Arlene Grierson and her colleagues, is titled “The Bricks and Mortar of our Foundation for Faculty Development: Book-study within a self-study professional learning community.” This article makes explicit the complexities of a collaborative group process among seven newly-appointed teacher educators studying their teacher education practices. These teacher educators met regularly to discuss Loughran's (2006) text, Developing a Pedagogy of Teacher Education. Their discussions led them to articulate key characteristics of effective professional learning groups for self-study as well as shared tensions they experienced as teacher educators, both within their practice and in the functioning of the collaborative self-study group.

Lastly, and on a different note, we are pleased to report that the submission and review process for Studying Teacher Education is now fully electronic. We continue to be grateful for the excellent work being done by our team of loyal reviewers.