This article documents the self-study processes and findings of a collaborative research group that examined a professional development school (PDS) partnership. Drawing on the scholarship of self-study of teacher education practices and theoretical perspectives consistent with third space, we conceived our collaborative study group as a learning…

Teacher education programs have a critical role in helping incoming teachers develop a deeper understanding of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues and their moral and legal obligations to counter homophobic bullying. In this self-study, two educators--a university professor and a classroom teacher, who facilitated a workshop…

In a Dutch self-study project, five teacher educators studied their own practices with three experienced researchers as the facilitators of the group. These facilitators also conducted a self-study of the whole project, particularly focusing on helping and hindering aspects of the facilitation process. In this article, we report two of the teacher…

Nine teacher educators in their first three years as tenure-track professors in an education faculty established a self-study group in 2006-2007. These professors met once a month to link their teaching and service to scholarship through the self-study of teacher education practices. In addition, members met in pairs or small groups to develop…

The first term of any preservice teacher education program can be challenging for students in many ways, and learning to read and write in a scholarly way is one potential challenge. This article chronicles events in my secondary education literacy course when I asked students to write in a descriptive, analytical, and reflective way about the…

Engaging in a self-study is a multi-faceted activity that involves not only autobiography and theory, but also students and colleagues. Learning from and with colleagues can take many forms. This article discusses the authors' experience with reciprocal classroom observation in a teacher education context. Peer observation supported our learning…

Within teacher education the position of educational foundations courses is increasingly precarious. Such courses are often declared irrelevant by students who embrace the aims of training and immediate practicality over education as the essence of learning to teach. Drawing on student and instructor diaries and diary summaries, the article…

This paper describes a university-school collaboration that resulted in the creation and implementation of a field-based teacher education program. Key features of this program included immersion in the field, integrated curriculum, supported reflection, and technology integration. After describing the development and implementation of the…

We explore the possibility of understanding teaching as a discipline in its own right, rather than as a domain that is ancillary to the many academic disciplines. While teaching looks easy and is widely regarded as easy, the image of teaching as transmission and the perspective of technical rationality mask the many ways in which challenging and…

The authors describe a journey of self-study during which one author shifted from traditional, teacher-driven approaches to a more problem-based inquiry approach to teaching mathematics. He videotaped a series of lessons taught to sixth-grade students over a semester and analyzed his teaching during discussions with his mentor at the university.…

This is the second of two self-studies of my efforts to prepare preservice teachers for the practical realities of the classroom while being respectful of their personal practical knowledge. I coined the term "relational teacher education" to convey my approach, which is informed by Rogers' "helping relationships" and Hollingsworth, Dybdahl, and…

While teacher educators may encourage their students to reflect deeply on their teaching, the teachers of teachers rarely seem to examine their own teaching practices. Yet a study of one's own practice can generate profound insights into one's own teaching, can model good teaching to our students, and can serve as the foundation for research about…

The notion of critical friendship is central to self-study. A critical friend acts as a sounding board, asks challenging questions, supports reframing of events, and joins in the professional learning experience. In this paper, we share our experiences of acting as critical friends for each other in two separate self-studies of practice. We…

There is little research that investigates the relationship between mothering and teaching. Even less has been revealed about teaching and the mothering experience of women who are also teachers. Here we examine how the learning gained from teaching is highlighted and clarified by studying stories of mothering. By examining stories of motherhood,…