Constructing Our Identities through a Writing Support Group: Bridging from Doctoral Students to Teacher Educator Researchers

Abstract

We are recent graduates of a graduate faculty of education in a research-based university in Canada. Our aspirations to become successful teacher educators and to write our dissertations brought us together to form a writing support group. During the 2010–2011 academic year, we conducted a self-study to better understand how the support group helped us to navigate the process of writing our dissertations as well as our endeavors to become teacher educator researchers. The results of our self-study indicate the importance of a supportive writing group in developing an identity as a teacher educator, developing research and writing skills through being a critical friend, and preparing graduate students for the complex role of teacher educator.

Keywords::

• identity
• graduate studies
• dissertation support
• critical friend
• teacher educator researcher