The Lure of the Beloved Assignment: Why Do We Give the Same Assignment Every Semester?

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

Abstract

We are two teacher educators who share a common experience of giving the same assignment every semester, and becoming emotionally attached to it. The purpose of this self-study is to explore questions such as the following: What is it about these kinds of assignments that makes them so appealing? Why do we stick with them year after year? What role do they play in our lives as teacher educators? Data sources include a variety of textual artifacts—including a written questionnaire that we administered to each other, several audiotaped and transcribed telephone conversations between us, course syllabi, etc. Analyzing these data through a process of analytic induction, we identified several distinct themes that characterize our “beloved assignments.”

Authors

• Jim A. Muchmore, Western Michigan University

• Thomas A. Griggs, University of Northern Colorado