To “Know Thyself” is Not Enough: Envisioning a Teaching Life through Autobiographical Narrative

• In Event: Confluence in Education and Professional Development: Expert Knowledge, Autobiography, and Narrative to Develop Transformative Practice

Abstract

When the authors, professors at a small, liberal arts university, began teaching in the Curriculum and Instruction Master’s program, our state-required capstone process was a standardized online portfolio using a commercially available portfolio builder. When given the opportunity to reconceptualize the product, process, and pedagogy, we looked at how the capstone could be a confluent reflection of our students’ learning experience throughout the ten-course program. Our focus was to create an inquiry-based curriculum with the goal of gaining a deeper understanding of teaching and learning by explicitly connecting theory with practice, and personal with professional. We developed each course and capstone component as a transformative encounter woven through the whole program, rather than a discrete project/paper introduced at the end.

Authors

• Isabel Nunez, Concordia University - Chicago

• Pamela J. Konkol, Concordia University - Chicago

• Simeon Martin Stumme, Concordia University - Chicago