The Bildungsroman of Early Career Educational Researchers: A Journey of the Self With Others

• In Event: Millennium Hotel Roundtable Session 14
  In Roundtable Session: Narrative Research From the Perspective of the Self

Abstract

While much literature highlights the complexity of becoming a teacher, less research has been conducted in relation to the experience of transitioning from practitioner (e.g., teacher or teacher educator) to educational researcher. This study presents the reflections of two early-career educational researchers in relation to this process of becoming. The authors employ the literary tradition of Bildungsroman – a narrative of personal growth – to gain insight into this process of becoming. The two narratives illuminate the ways in which the encountering of others (specifically, teachers and mentors) formatively shapes one’s identity development as an early-career educational researcher.

Authors

• Aaron Samuel Zimmerman, Texas Tech University

• Sunny Styles-Foster, University of Central Arkansas

• Michael Ladick, Allegheny Intermediate Unit