Conversations in Relation: The research relationship in/as artful self-study

Abstract

Our work is situated within the context of the self-study of teacher education practices. We focus on the role of the other in self-study and suggest that both the quality of the research relationship and the process of researching-in-relation engender a level of understanding and knowledge development not possible through independent self-study. We assert that self-study is a shared task and a shared adventure in which the understanding of teaching and learning is deepened through the active involvement of another. We characterize the quality of our research relationship as intimate and our process of researching as artful. We tell our research story through four narrative phases of our research-in-relation, explore several themes that emerge from our conversation, and consider their implications for self-study work.