Becoming a teacher educator: a journey

Abstract

This dissertation is about a journey, a journey of becoming a teacher educator. Although, I argue that this journey is one that is never truly completed, I focus on the journey's beginning--a beginning that starts with enrolling in graduate school in pursuit of a doctoral degree in Curriculum and Instruction. It is a deeply personal journey and one that I began almost ten years ago. My journey as both the researcher and participant in this study are central components of this dissertation. The research questions I ask are tied to the personal and professional experiences of graduate students who are living the process of becoming a teacher educator and how they can be supported in a more intentional manner. This work takes a human sciences approach guided by a theoretical framework heavily influenced by Hans-Georg Gadamer's notion of shifting horizons. The work of Parker Palmer and Jennifer Crawford have also provided direction. Both Palmer and Crawford have helped me view the journey of becoming a teacher educator holistically, breaking down the arbitrary walls our culture has built to separate the personal and professional elements of our lives. I use constructivist grounded theory as described by Charmaz (2006) as my research method. My findings are tied to the different types of movement we experience as we live out the process of becoming a teacher educator and point to a need for great intentionality in the form of communal support to help make meaning of the different types of movement one makes as individuals and as a community as we live out the journey of becoming a teacher educators.