Critically Reading Lived Experiences as Texts: A Four-Year Study of Teacher Education Practices

• In Event: Multiliteracies in the Lives of Teachers

Abstract

Three teacher educators from special education, educational leadership and literacy education conducted a four-year, longitudinal self-study of their teacher education practices by asking: “What can we learn about our teaching through textualizing our experiences as learners, educators, and researchers?” We defined text in a broader sense to include the idea that lived experiences once textualized could then be shared, reinterpreted, and analyzed. Positioned as critical friends, the researchers utilized a modified collaborative conference protocol to examine artifacts from their teaching and research experiences. Findings across this four-year study, advance a framework for purposefully learning from lived experiences and for sharing knowledge with others.

Authors

• Christi Edge, Northern Michigan University

• Bethney Bergh, Northern Michigan University

• Abby Cameron-Standerford, Northern Michigan University