This article maps out key features of self-study in teaching and teacher development, particularly in relation to social action. As teacher educator-researchers, we have become increasingly interested in how self-reflexivity in teaching and teacher development can illuminate social and educational challenges that have resonance beyond the self and can inspire context-specific, practitioner-led responses to those challenges. Drawing on creative and participatory approaches to engaging in self-study, we highlight some of the ways in which the personal interconnects with the social and in so doing contributes to taking action. The examples that we use illustrate the use of personal narrative and video documentary, particularly in the context of our work with South African teachers, and point to the potential for ministries and faculties of education to support self-study initiatives as an approach to social action and community development.