This study is a narrative self-study that reflects on the relationship between knowledge of assessment practice and theory and factors that lead to a change in practice. There are a variety of ways to use assessment as a teacher in school settings, and this paper explores how the researcher-subject developed and changed assessment practices to inform her teaching, to assist her students in attaining mastery of curricular outcomes, and to report student achievement to parents and school administrators. While tackling this complex topic, one discovers there is not one best way to assess student learning. Deciding to learn more about assessment demonstrating a willingness to try new assessment methods, to grow from successes and failures, and to look introspectively and critically current assessment practices, the result can be a more valid assessment of what a student knows and can do, and a more informed understanding of good teaching and assessment practices.

This study is a narrative self-study that reflects on the relationship between knowledge of assessment practice and theory and factors that lead to a change in practice. There are a variety of ways to use assessment as a teacher in school settings, and this paper explores how the researcher-subject developed and changed assessment practices to inform her teaching, to assist her students in attaining mastery of curricular outcomes, and to report student achievement to parents and school administrators. While tackling this complex topic, one discovers there is not one best way to assess student learning. Deciding to learn more about assessment demonstrating a willingness to try new assessment methods, to grow from successes and failures, and to look introspectively and critically current assessment practices, the result can be a more valid assessment of what a student knows and can do, and a more informed understanding of good teaching and assessment practices.

This study describes the research conducted into my teaching practice as an Environmental Educator. The study employs a self-study methodology and systematically examines evidence gathered on my practice in teaching a Grade 11 Current Environmental Topics in Science course. A reflective journal kept during the teaching of the course was retrospectively and systematically examined, with the support of a critical friend, for what informed my teaching of the subject. I used written accounts of my students’ learning to identify evidence of learning and understand how my teaching influenced learning. Using Urie Bronfenbrenner’s model of human development as a means of analysis, I was able gauge what personal and environmental factors were influencing the teaching and learning process. Using Derek Hodson’s levels of sophistication alongside Elliot Eisner’s orientations to curriculum, it was found that there were many layers informing my planning and delivery of curriculum.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Science, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Science. 17 July 2017 / The research study focused on me as a teacher: how I went about learning the content knowledge of stars and also learning how to transform that content knowledge into the knowledge of teaching. In addition, it also looked at how my own pedagogical practices may influence the learning and understanding of the topic of ‘stars’ to pre-service teachers; in serving the goal of enabling me as a teacher to improve my own practice. A self-study research methodology was employed in this study where an action research approach was used in collecting data and analysing it. The data was collected through the use of concept maps, a questionnaire, and interviews with students as well as video recording of the lesson. During this research study, I was in a continuous reflective process, whereby I was going through the stages of an action research study (plan, act, observe and reflect) to enable me to improve and develop both my content knowledge and how I transform it in ways that will be accessible to the students. According to Shulman (1987) Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) is a special kind of knowledge which makes the teacher to be different from other professions. Shulman (1987) argued that the transformation of subject matter knowledge (Content knowledge) is the process which leads to the development of a teachers’ PCK. More so, PCK is a product of transformation of content knowledge. Therefore, when that transformation is done in a particular topic “e.g. stars” then the version of PCK generated is the “Topic Specific PCK”. Topic Specific Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TSPCK) was the theoretical framework which underpinned the study. This is because it is through the components of TSPCK as stipulated by Mavhunga and Rollnick (2013) in which the transformation of Content knowledge can occur. Concept maps were an effective tool in ensuring progressive learning. The concept maps which I constructed in this study made me aware of my own misconceptions, errors and missing knowledge gaps in my content knowledge of stars. Therefore, the concept maps helped me to move to more accurate conceptions with the assistance of the interventions such as planetarium visits, astronomy evenings as well as visits to the library. The interventions enabled me to acquire new content knowledge which was then captured by the concept maps. Gaining content knowledge was necessary for me to be able to transform it for the purpose of teaching. The components of knowledge transformation were identified from the critical incidents, which were moments abstracted from the lesson which I taught. PCK is in two forms, there is planned and enacted PCK. The planned PCK was yielded by the construction of the CoRe and acted PCK was yielded by the lesson which was taught twice (for improvement). The questionnaire results show that although students may gain confidence after attending a lesson, some of their initial conceptions may not be altered. From the study, it shows that as a teacher being more reflective of my own practice improves my content knowledge and my pedagogical practices (teaching); thus contributing to my development of PCK. / MT2018

This report describes a self-study using an action research spiral of problem analysis, intervention design, trial, reflection and analysis. The main purpose of the study was to investigate and evaluate whether Web 2.0 technologies and, in particular, social software could be effectively integrated into a senior secondary English classroom. The methodology used in the study, while mainly qualitative, did include a degree of quantitative data-gathering. The study took place over two terms of the 2007 school year in a semi-rural school south of Auckland. My Year 12 English class of twenty-four students were participants in the study and I was the teacher-researcher. As part of the study the students responded to my 'blog' and created and maintained their own 'blogs'. These 'voices' are important threads in this narrative. Two of my colleagues acted as 'critical friends' in this process. During the study my own beliefs regarding new technology and the descriptor 'digital natives' were challenged. While the data collected and the interpretative analysis of it created further questions that need to be addressed, the findings indicate that there is a place for Web 2.0 technology and social software in English classrooms. The findings also show that in order for these applications to be integrated effectively, a number of issues need to be addressed. My recommendations as teacher-researcher at the 'chalk-face' attempting to keep up with the rapidly changing lives of our students concludes this report.

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Education. / This thesis is an exploration of my practice as a teacher consultant in the area of gender equity. Focusing on my consultancy practice with teachers in primary school settings, the study explores my development as a teacher consultant. The study is a self-study in teacher education practices and considers the following questions: • How do I experience and understand my practice as a gender equity consultant? • How can I improve my practice as a consultant? • How does self-study contribute to professional learning about consultancy? My learning about consultancy is explored using narrative inquiry methods including field notes, journal entries, in-depth and focus group interviews with participating teachers, and reflections on critical friend interactions. These methods were used to develop stories of teacher professional learning and consultancy that informed my understandings about my work with teachers, and subsequent changes to practice. I argue that the process of becoming a teacher consultant is one of continual construction and reconstruction as one reflects on and reframes experience, based on interactions with teachers, colleagues and the professional literature. This process of reconstruction enables one to come more clearly to know the self in practice, and therefore, better understand the needs of others in teacher professional learning contexts. Finally I argue that self-study of teacher education practices offers teacher consultants the means to investigate their practice in ways which result in transformative learning about their support of professional learning for teachers in school settings. This study has implications for self-study of teacher education practices as it expands this methodology to include its usefulness for understanding the practice of teacher consultants supporting the professional learning of experienced teachers in schools.

As a teacher educator, I was concerned at the passive roles that pre-service teachers (PSTs) seemed to take in my outdoor education (OE) courses and I believed that more authentic (teacher-like) experiences would assist PSTs to take more active roles. Early in this research I developed a metaphor of PSTs as passengers on the long distance flight (their degree) to the destination (of teaching) to explain some of this passivity. Using a self-study methodology, I examined a variety of ‘authentic’ learning experiences during a semester-long course. Guided by Schwab’s commonplaces, I accessed perspectives of learners, milieu, teacher educator and discipline to provide me with some certainty about the effects of my teaching. The authentic learning experiences included my use of transparent teaching (open journaling and thinking aloud), modelling of proposed graduating teacher standards, fatality case studies and handing over control on an OE camp. As the research progressed, it became apparent that my initial framing of the problem of PST passivity was flawed. In particular, the most authentic experiences of teaching on the OE camp did not necessarily result in the active learning I had anticipated. Through the self-study methodology, I came to realise that authenticity was impeding the learning of some students. I reframed my approach to teacher education and used Schwab’s eclecticism to also acknowledge the equal importance of passive learning, inauthenticity and teacher uncertainty. I argue that this eclectic approach provides a more nuanced and fuller understanding of teaching and learning in the OE course. Finally, I discuss the criteria within self-study for demonstrating improvement and representation of results.

This qualitative self-study explores my teaching practice. Three months of on-going daily critical reflections on past and present experiences related to my teaching resulted in 26 written documents illuminating memories, thoughts, feelings, insights, and epiphanies. Data collection strategies included narrative writing, dialogue with a mentor, and engagement in contemplative practices, such as Yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. The main purpose of this study was to explore, learn, and develop a core teacher identity and teaching practice while addressing two main research questions: how am I authentic in my teaching practice; and how might engaging in self-study contribute to my authenticity as a teacher? I used Cranton and Carusetta’s research, specifically referring to “Authenticity in Teaching” (2004a) and “Developing Authenticity as a Transformative Process” (2004b) to guide this study and analyze my findings. Results revealed the various ways in which I practice authenticity in my teaching and that my engagement in on-going critical reflection through self-study contributed to my authenticity as a teacher. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2012-08-20 21:01:28.498

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Education. / This thesis is an exploration of my practice as a teacher consultant in the area of gender equity. Focusing on my consultancy practice with teachers in primary school settings, the study explores my development as a teacher consultant. The study is a self-study in teacher education practices and considers the following questions: • How do I experience and understand my practice as a gender equity consultant? • How can I improve my practice as a consultant? • How does self-study contribute to professional learning about consultancy? My learning about consultancy is explored using narrative inquiry methods including field notes, journal entries, in-depth and focus group interviews with participating teachers, and reflections on critical friend interactions. These methods were used to develop stories of teacher professional learning and consultancy that informed my understandings about my work with teachers, and subsequent changes to practice. I argue that the process of becoming a teacher consultant is one of continual construction and reconstruction as one reflects on and reframes experience, based on interactions with teachers, colleagues and the professional literature. This process of reconstruction enables one to come more clearly to know the self in practice, and therefore, better understand the needs of others in teacher professional learning contexts. Finally I argue that self-study of teacher education practices offers teacher consultants the means to investigate their practice in ways which result in transformative learning about their support of professional learning for teachers in school settings. This study has implications for self-study of teacher education practices as it expands this methodology to include its usefulness for understanding the practice of teacher consultants supporting the professional learning of experienced teachers in schools.

The purpose of this study was to examine the dilemmas and tensions the researcher encountered as a teachers in a university-based lab school. Specifically, she examined the tensions within the context of the seemingly contradictory role expectations that were required of her as a student who was also a teacher. This autobiographical form of self study was based on the principles of action research, of linking theory and practice through a cyclical process of action and reflection. The findings were reported in a narrative form and describe the process of how one woman came to know and understand herself as a teacher and an individual through her life inside and outside of the classroom. / Master of Science