The Shark in the Vitrine

Abstract

The Scholars of Studying Teaching Collaborative engaged a dozen faculty members from 12 specializations and 4 colleges at a large public university in a 2-year teaching and research project with the goal of learning about and enacting a self-study of professional practice. Participants were selected from various disciplines to provoke alternative perspectives in whole group and critical friend teams. While we each conducted a self-study, we also designed and enacted a meta-study to assess our professional development within the context of the collaborative. We analyze the potential of engaging in collective self-study and report how the methodological challenges initiated transformational learning that bridged theory and praxis. Learning the self-study methodology was complex, but such concentration multiplied the impact of both personal and professional transformation. The study benefits faculty from a broad range of disciplines, at diverse stages in their academic careers, and working at every level of the academic hierarchy.

Exploring my role modelling as a teacher educator: A self-study

“…As my educational values evolve in response to, and in relationship with, my lived experience and significant people in my life, I will be changing and learning. Samaras et al (2014) suggested that self-study forces you to confront your inadequacies and in so doing, you become more mindful of incongruities in your practice. As Samaras et al (2014, 368) commented, self-study is not linear and orderly but is characterised by "messiness, uncertainty and complexity" and for me this is what makes self-study so appealing.…”

Suicide Prevention Education Within Youth Work Higher Education

“…White (2012) posited that youth suicide is "an unstable, historically contingent, and unruly problem [which] cannot be solved, nor contained through an exclusive reliance on predetermined, universal or standardized interventions" (p. 42). As such, learning experiences in child and youth care higher education that parallel the complexities encountered in practice and safe learning spaces are needed for students to question, take risks, share beliefs, express vulnerabilities, and accept others' feedback and perspectives (Samaras et al, 2014). Moments of fear and anxiety can be viewed as opportunities for learning that can lead to personal transformation (Walinga & Harris, 2016).…”