Collaborative Self-study Research Articles

Walking the Roads as Immigrant Mothers and Teacher Educators: A Collaborative Self-Study of Three Korean Immigrant Early Childhood Educators

Offering an analysis of our multifaceted experiences as three Korean immigrant early childhood teacher educators in the United States, this critical collaborative self-study examines how positions as immigrant mothers and teacher educators interplay with each other. This study also explores ways in which the intersectional experiences influence our teaching pedagogy and practices. We found that we as immigrant mothers have challenges pertaining to parental involvement and maintaining our heritage language, meet tensions when advocating for diversity, and experience role-model pressure as teacher educators. Keeping these challenges in mind, the interactions between our two roles benefitted our students as our teaching became more critical and deeper. This collaborative self-study unpacks the intersecting positions of immigrant mother and teacher educator insightfully and reveals the development of pedagogical practices. It also suggests directions for classroom teachers and future researchers in relation to immigrant children and families.

“Struck by the Way Our Bodies Conveyed So Much:” A Collaborative Self-Study of our Developing Understanding of Embodied Pedagogies

Embodied pedagogies offer methodological and pedagogical possibilities for exploring and understanding the emotional and embodied dimensions of teaching and learning to teach. In this paper we present a collaborative self-study that examines what we have learned about the nature, value and facilitation of embodied pedagogies through our experiences as both facilitators and participants. Through engaging in this self-study we have deepened our understanding of three aspects of embodied pedagogies: the nature of embodiment as a process of learning and coming to know, the challenges associated with engaging learners in embodied pedagogies, and some of the factors that contribute to skilful facilitation of embodied pedagogies. Articulating these understandings offers insight for ourselves and for other teacher educators looking to engage preservice teachers in embodied explorations and understandings of teaching and learning.

The Influence of the Core Practices Movement on the Teaching and Perspectives of Novice Teacher Educators

This collaborative self-study examines the influence of engagement in the core practices movement on the course designs, instruction, and perspectives of three novice teacher educators at a large mid-Atlantic research university. Through core practices work, we integrated repeated cycles of analysis, practice, and reflection into our courses, ultimately becoming more deliberate and responsive in our planning. We engaged in more in-depth inquiry into our teaching as we inquired into the core practices with our teacher candidates and also noticed an enhanced use of shared language. Core practices work influenced our perspectives on the work of teacher educators by reaffirming our belief in the complexity of teaching and teacher education, raising important questions about the relationship between commitments and core practices and underscoring the value of learner-centered practices in teacher education. The finding of this self-study suggest that core practices present an opportunity to engage novice teacher educators in reflection, collaboration, and inquiry central to teacher education.

Possibilities and Challenges of Teaching Integrated Math and Social Studies for Social Justice: Two Teacher Educators' Collaborative Self-Study

Possibilities and Challenges of Teaching Integrated Math and Social Studies for Social Justice: Two Teacher Educators' Collaborative Self-Study

Collaborative self-study: Lessons from a study of wearable fitness technology and physical activity

While researchers in related disciplines have embraced and benefited from use of unconventional contemporary qualitative research methods extending beyond interviews and case studies, sport management researchers largely have not thus far. The purpose of this article is to encourage greater use of collaborative self-study (autoethnography and self-ethnography) within sport management research. Based on our experience with a collaborative self-study research project examining the influence of wearable fitness technology on physical activity, we explore key methodological considerations focusing on the ethics of self-study, and the benefits, challenges, and opportunities associated with employing this underutilized qualitative method in sport management research. Collaborative self-study offers the opportunity to address questions and examine sport phenomena from perspectives rarely addressed by traditional approaches. Through reviewing collaborative self-study, we provide guidance for sport management researchers and encourage researchers to consider this method in their future projects.

A collaborative autoethnography study to inform the teaching of reflective practice in STEM

ABSTRACTThe paper explores a collaborative self-study, autoethnography research project, which aided in informing practice for the teaching of reflective practice in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) at an Australian university. Self-report methods were used, because it enabled the collection of a variety of self-awareness data generated processes to help produce insights and understandings. This was achieved by undertaking a systematic approach to the exploration of a critical friendship between two academic support staff members alongside reflections from a recorded, focus group interview with nine STEM teachers. Four self-awareness data generated processes were used: (1) self-reflections; (2) collaborative reflections; (3) reflections on pertinent literature findings and (4) reflections from nine STEM teachers. A thematic analysis of the data was undertaken, which resulted in the discovery of three turning points such as moments of understandings that challenge assumptions and/or lead to new insights. The findings indicated that a STEM-centric, scaffolded approach that utilised the scientific method for reflective practice enabled the development of a shared understanding around teaching and assessing reflective practice for STEM teachers. First, because it boosted self-confidence and second, because it reduced scepticism around reflective practice as a non-scientific form of learning.

Challenges and learning outcomes of educational design research for PhD students

Educational design research (EDR) is described as a complex research approach. The challenges resulting from this complexity are typically described as procedural, whereas EDR might also be challenging for different reasons, specifically for early career researchers. Yet challenging experiences may be noteworthy in the process of learning to do research and becoming a researcher. To explore this issue further, we engaged in a collaborative self-study, and conducted a narrative cross-case analysis of two PhD candidates’ experiences of engaging in EDR, focusing on challenges and learning outcomes. We find indications that the challenges of EDR might be more related to EDR’s relatively new and minority position in educational sciences and the role a (early career) researcher needs to assume in EDR. Retrospectively, the challenges appear closely related to learning outcomes, which are described in terms of a more profound understanding of research (quality) and of oneself as a researcher. As such, insights gained by self-study of research practices provide a complementary perspective to existing literature on EDR and becoming a researcher.

Teacher Educator Identity in a Culture of Iterative Teacher Education Program Design: A Collaborative Self-Study

Faculty in the School of Education have collaborated to re-envision teacher education at our university. A complex, dynamic, time-consuming and sometimes painstaking process, redesigning a teacher education program from a traditional approach (i.e. where courses focus primarily on theoretical principles of practice through textbooks and university-based classroom discussions) to a model of teacher education that embraces teaching, learning and leading with schools and in communities is challenging, yet exciting work. Little is known about teacher educators’ experiences as they either design or deliver collaborative field-based models of teacher education. In this article, we examine our experiences in the second implementation year of our redesigned teacher education program, Teaching, Learning, and Leading with Schools and Communities (TLLSC) and how these unique experiences inform our teacher educator identities. Through a collaborative self-study, we sought to make meaning of our transformation from a faculty delivering a traditional model to educators collectively implementing a field-based model, by analyzing the diverse perspectives of faculty at different entry points in the TLLSC development and implementation process. We found that our participation in an intensive field-based teacher preparation model challenged our notions of teacher educator identity. In a culture of iterative program design, this study documents the personal and professional shifts in identity required to accomplish this collaborative and dynamic change in approach to teacher education.

Boundary Crossing and the Professional Learning of Teacher Educators in New International Contexts

In this collaborative self-study, two teacher educators examine their experiences of working in new international contexts and the impact of those experiences on their professional learning and identities. Mandi moved from a major research university in one country to another, while Judy co-led a group of pre-service teachers on an international practicum for three weeks each year for three years. Using the concept of boundary crossing as a theoretical and analytical framework, each teacher educator identified a boundary-related critical incident or experience that occurred during her work in new international contexts. Through individual and collaborative analysis of their critical incidents, they found that working as a teacher educator in new international contexts involves the crossing and re-crossing of multiple personal, professional, linguistic and cultural boundaries. Working in these boundary spaces involved learning how to negotiate new kinds of relationships with colleagues and students, manage changed roles and responsibilities and, ultimately, a search for a renewed sense of self, as each sought to understand herself differently within a new professional context.

Teaching sociocultural issues to pre-service physical education teachers: a self-study

The purpose of this study was to examine how two teacher educators integrated sociocultural issues within their undergraduate physical education teacher education (PETE) programs. We engaged in self-study to examine challenges and barriers to teaching sociocultural issues to pre-service teachers (PSTs). After discussing social justice in PE at a research conference, we discussed future research to understand what and how we were explicitly addressing issues of social justice in programs, and how we were educating PSTs to teach K-12 students about social justice and social inequalities. A collaborative self-study over the course of one academic year allowed us to explore our teaching practices by investigating teaching materials and pedagogical methods during the teaching process. We identified three salient themes that were prevalent between both of our pedagogical approaches: using self as an example, responding to teachable moments and questioning whether we are doing enough. Barriers to incorporating sociocultural issues in courses are discussed, and a call to revitalize the social justice agenda in PETE is made.

Inquiring into the Assessment Education of Preservice Teachers: A Collaborative Self-Study of Teacher Educators

As professors teaching courses in classroom assessment in a Bachelor of Education program, we engage in collaborative self-study as a means to understand the complexity of our preservice teachers’ learning. Here we describe two of the strategies we use in our teaching: purposefully introducing competing philosophies early in our courses, and guiding our preservice teachers’ to inquire deeply into their assessment histories. We examine our preservice teachers’ differing responses, which range from misunderstanding or resisting to thinking deeply about the course content. We conclude by identifying three protective factors that support us as we work with preservice teachers in the area of assessment education.Keywords: assessment education; preservice teacher education; self-study

Examining Greek Special Education Teachers’ Individual and Collaborative Teaching Experiences

In this exploratory study, the authors examine Greek special education teachers’ individual and collaborative teaching experiences in the context of their literacy instruction. The Five Foci Framework, situated in Vygotskian theory, is utilized in the study’s design to examine special education teachers’ individual and collaborative experiences teaching and included personal situated inquiry, critical collaborative inquiry, improved learning, transparent research process, and knowledge generation and presentation. Twenty-five special education teachers in northwestern Greece participate in the study. Data include individual semi-structured interviews, researchers’ analytical memoing and dialogue, and inter-rater coding. Data are independently analyzed and result in the following themes: inquiries and goals, stories of collaboration, assessment, and challenges and needs. The authors offer suggestions for enacting co-teaching within the structures of national standards through collaborative self-study.

Journaling and Self-Study in an International Research Collective

Drawing from the theoretical foundations of reflective teaching, culturally responsive education, social constructivism, and self-study, this collaborative self-study investigates the role of an interactive online journal in an international research collective. Each from a different country, the authors came together through a common interest in the “philosophy for children Hawai'i” approach to education and designed an online platform for journaling together. The overall objectives of the study are to examine how interactive online journaling influences international collaboration, individual research interests and goals, and personal and professional development. To analyze their journal the authors use an applied self-study research methodology that is self-initiated, improvement-aimed, and communicative. The findings reveal how journaling can create an international commons, deepen inquiry in the research process, and foster a culturally responsive approach to international collaboration. The discussion explores the impact of the authors' relationships and roles on their joint production of knowledge and elaborates the usefulness of collaborative technologies in reducing face-to-face tensions often experienced in cross-cultural collaboration. The authors explain how community, philosophical inquiry, and reflection in the context of online journaling proved to be powerful tools for culturally responsive researchers who wish to construct their own understandings of what it means to be a part of an international research collective.

Confessions of Practice: Multidimensional Interweavings of Our Work as Teacher Educators

In this article, we describe our inquiry and confess how our work as teacher educators weaves through multiple contexts and roles to reinforce a stronger enactment and construction of knowledge and practical relevance. We examined the complex nature of teacher education roles through collaborative self-study. Questions included the following: What roles do we enact as teacher educators? How do these enacted roles interact in multiple, situated contexts? We found our roles were multidimensional across activity systems. Knowledge and models flowed across settings and enhanced practical relevance with candidates and in our work as we negotiated the multiple interweavings of our work.

Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Higher Education: A Collaborative Self-Study

In this article we discuss findings from a collaborative self-study of how seven teacher educators define, enact, and navigate their roles as culturally responsive educators across various programs within a higher education institution. All participants conducted an individual interview with another team member and engaged in prolonged team meetings in order to understand and conceptualize culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP). Findings include the participants' difficulty with defining CRP in higher education; the importance of modeling and building relationships with students when enacting CRP; tensions related to students and institutions; and professional and personal opportunities to continuously evolve. The findings begin to fill in a void for an articulated framework of CRP beyond P-12 classrooms and illustrate the type of support and professional development higher education institutions need to provide for teacher educators to actualize this work.

The Impact of a Pedagogy of Teacher Education Seminar on Educator and Future Teacher Educator Identities

Educators require support as they move from classroom to higher education settings. This collaborative self-study provides insight into one such support space, a doctoral seminar titled Pedagogy of Teacher Education, and how our identities as educators and future teacher educators developed through participation in the course. Several important themes emerged as we negotiated and adopted new identities as educators, and future teacher educators and researchers. These themes include our development of a collaborative mindset, a teacher educator-researcher perspective, and a critical self-awareness. The findings draw on our professional and personal histories to explore the prominent features that influenced and shaped our identities as educators and future teacher educator-researchers. In sharing our development as educators and future teacher educators, this article provides insights into the ways in which doctoral students in education begin to develop their identities and pedagogies through guided support from more experienced teacher educators.

Providing Students with Written Feedback on Their Assessment: A Collaborative Self-Study Exploring the Nexus of Research and Practice

This article is an account of a collaborative self-study of the process of providing written feedback on assessment to our teacher education students. Our five-year study grew out of concerns that written feedback might not always meet the learning needs of our students. The study was informed by on-going analysis of our reading of the relevant literature, our experience conducting a qualitative research study of students' perceptions of written feedback on assessment, and our professional conversations along the way. We became increasingly aware that our personal beliefs about learning and teaching underpin our respective approaches to providing written feedback on assessment. The process of critical reflection enabled us to achieve a congruence of professional practice that resolved our concerns about the nature of written feedback and enhanced our respective pedagogical practices.

Reframing pedagogy while teaching about teaching online: a collaborative self-study

The purpose of this paper is to use collaborative self-study to analyze and describe our experiences of teaching about teaching in a digital, online environment. Data were gathered from reflective journal entries, emails and monthly Skype calls. Our findings indicate that the perceived disembodiment of teaching and learning online affected how we fostered relationships with students and responded to problems of practice. Further, we felt that a particular approach to teaching online risked teaching becoming reduced to providing feedback to students in the form of assessment, which had implications for our identities as teacher educators. By discussing our experiences of teaching online we began to develop a critical understanding of the challenges of teaching online, and questioned how our online practices shaped our developing pedagogies of teacher education.

Developing Research Relationships toward a Learning Partnership

Research relationships are often poorly understood. Why are some collaborations between research partners more productive than others? This question was a starting point of this paper. By describing their own experiences over a period of three years, the authors evaluated research relationships through collaborative self-study. At the beginning, they encountered challenges because they came from different countries and communities with different socio-emotional norms. In addition, while the first author was an experienced researcher, the second was just beginning her career as a researcher. The authors identified three phases through which their research relationship developed into a learning partnership and described the collaborative activities that enhanced the process of change. This study shows that the both participants have learned a lot from the other. The most central accomplishments of their learning partnership are improved reflection skills and academic productivity.

The Challenges of Models-Based Practice in Physical Education Teacher Education: A Collaborative Self-Study

There are two purposes of this study. The first is to examine our experiences as beginning teacher educators who taught using models-based practice (using the example of Cooperative Learning). The second is to consider the benefits of using collaborative self-study to foster deep understandings of teacher education practice. The findings highlight the challenges in adapting school teaching practices to the university setting, and the different types of knowledge required to teach about the “hows” and “whys” of a models-based approach. We conclude by acknowledging the benefits of systematic study of practice in helping to unpack the complexities and challenges of teaching about teaching. Our collaborative self-study enabled us to develop insights into the intertwined nature of self and practice, and the personal and professional value of our research leads us to encourage teacher educators to examine and share their challenges and understandings of teaching practice.