ERIC Number: EJ881856
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2010-Jun
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1354-0602
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Available Date: N/A
Writing and Professional Learning: The Uses of Autobiography in Graduate Studies in Education
Elbaz-Luwisch, Freema
Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, v16 n3 p307-327 Jun 2010
Based on the writing and oral reports of a group of 15 students in a graduate course focused on autobiographic writing and professional development, I address the question of how graduate study in education might sustain teachers in their work. For the course in question, the students studied recent research on teacher learning and devoted time to personal writing related to the course topics, viewing writing as an embodied process. The participants saw professional learning as entailing the expansion of their repertoire of professional knowledge and skills, the strengthening of reflective processes, paying attention to cognitive dissonance, inquiry into and clarification of their personal story and the development of "narrative authority", the building of a "knowledge community", and the integration of theory and practice. My interpretation of the course materials highlights the contribution of writing to professional learning: writing facilitated paying attention to the concrete details of experience, making place for expression of feelings and imagination, giving voice to a range of social concerns, and viewing social, cultural, and religious difference as a resource for teacher learning. (Contains 3 notes.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Faculty Development, Graduate Study, Schools of Education, Writing (Composition), Autobiographies, Reflective Teaching, Personal Narratives, Psychological Patterns, Human Body, Cognitive Processes, Holistic Approach, Communities of Practice
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Israel
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