The personal as pedagogical practice

Abstract

This paper uses data originally gathered as part of an Australian national research study into the Impact of Educational Research (2000).1 The author was a member of one of four research teams, led by Professor Marilyn McMeniman. The team's focus was to identify the main influences on the knowledge that teachers draw on as they teach—their ‘knowledge in action’. What emerged from the data was a complex picture of the teacher in action and the multiplicity of functions undertaken by teachers in the teaching/learning process. This paper examines one practice that emerged from this complex picture—teacher disclosure. Three teachers in the study incorporated personal disclosure in their practice. The context of the teachers and their disclosures is described followed by an examination of these teachers' reasons for incorporating as pedagogical practice experiences from their personal lives. The reasons that emerge are about not only explaining content to students, but also establishing particular learning environments and challenging assumptions about themselves as teachers.