Classroom Critical Incidents: Exploring What We Do and Are We Any Good at It?

• In Event: Exploring Classroom Practices in Diverse Settings With Self-Study

Abstract

This collaborative self-study draws upon situated perspectives of learning and self-study methodology to examine and refine our pedagogy of teacher education through reflection on the shared teaching of an introduction to teaching course. We explored three questions: What do we do? Are we good at it? How do we know? Data consisted of 13 meetings and class artifacts. The most revealing moments in our analysis we termed “critical incidents.” These were moments that were complex, uncomfortable, and evinced significant shifts in our pedagogies. These incidents also illuminated how our personal practical theories were shaping our engagement with students. This study has implications for self-study research, conceptualizations of teacher education, and for how we support both teacher and teacher educator development.

Authors

• Rebecca Buchanan, University of Maine

• Evan Mooney, Husson University