Passing on a Teacher Educator's Knowledge: Self-study of a doctoral teaching internship

Abstract

This self-study documents the transformations of a doctoral student and her major professor as they collaborated during a semester-long internship in a graduate literacy education course. Analysis of dialectic journals and reflections based on these journals showed that the intern's experiences in the course changed her instructional philosophy and attitudes toward the role of teacher educators. Participating in a course that emphasized critical pedagogy during this important time in her development as a teacher educator led the intern to see the value of forming learning communities and encouraging teachers to take action to improve schools and society. The professor also changed through teaching with her doctoral student. In attempting to be a model of critical pedagogy, the professor added a social issues assignment to the course and asked more probing questions than in previous classes. Mentoring a teaching intern for the first time, the professor also found much to critique in her own course planning and communications with the doctoral student. Both participants found that change was enhanced through the processes of self-study.