Developing “the Authority of Experience” Through Collaborative Self-Study

• In Event: The Authority of Introspection in Self-Study

Abstract

In this study we develop perspectives associated with the ways in which teacher candidates are developing an “authority of experience” in our teacher education courses. In so doing, we are particularly interested in how they have learned to learn from experience and how they are able to speak about educational issues using warrants derived from the authority of their experiences. We applied qualitative analysis methods found in discourse analysis to our teaching journals in a collaborative self-study between teacher educators in two very different teacher education programs. This paper provides detailed illustrations of how self-study of teacher education practices enhanced our skills at helping candidates developing their authority of experience in our courses.

Authors

• Tom Russell, Queen's University

• Shawn M. Bullock, Simon Fraser University