Studying the Self: The Importance of Self-Knowledge as a Means to Relational Teacher Education

• In Event: Complicating the "Self" in Self-Study

Abstract

The term self-study of teacher education practices (S-STEP) is rife with tensions, holding in tension the self and practice. How much do we focus on one or the other? Is the self a fixed identity? While tension generally connotes internal turmoil, it is more useful to think of tension as a dynamic interplay among the commonplaces that contribute to teacher education. This proposal argues that we need to puzzle over the meaning of self in S-STEP, but not pin it down. The objective is to critically reflect on the importance of self-knowledge, while caution practitioners that the study of self needs to be in service of improving learning. The author draws on artifacts from over 20 years of S-STEP writing.

Author

• Julian D. Kitchen, Brock University