Self-Study Approaches and the Teacher-Inquirer
Rotterdam: Sense Publishers, (2009)Abstract
This book examines self-study methodologies and their relevance to professional growth among teachers. The book puts forward the following arguments: Self-study as a research approach involves basic research skills, therefore constituting an important step for non-professional inquirers aspiring to more complex research. Self-study is a powerful tool in support of professional growth among teachers. Self-study comprises a set of approaches, among them instructional situations case analysis, critical autobiography, and action research. The book offers some interesting perspectives on the following issues: - The book focuses on the writer’s experience as a teacher educator who has elicited and motivated self-studies among student teachers and teachers. - The book brings together three related self-study methodologies: instructional situations case analysis, critical autobiography, and action research. - The book offers a new perspective on implementing and analyzing instructional situation cases through the äuthentic case of teaching" and the "expected case of teaching," a perspective developed by the writer and implemented in her classes. - The book provides a fresh view of critical autobiography as a powerful tool teachers can use to examine their own practice and professional development. - The book introduces critical discourse analysis as a useful tool for researchers. This tool enables teacher-inquirers to reveal their 'sense of professional self' and their professional identity as it emerges in teaching cases they provide. - Teachers and researchers can easily apply the methodologies described in this book to their own teaching and research arenas.