This paper explores the metaphor of the "teacher as stranger" as a guide for curriculum inquiry. It describes investigations conducted by educators in an introductory curriculum studies course and illustrates the themes revealed in students' lived-curriculum journals. In particular, it examines several journals to document how perceptions of curriculum changed over time, and to analyse the extent to which these teachers began to see as "strangers" by developing critical consciousness and changing their identities as curriculum workers. Finally, it considers strengths and weaknesses of curriculum inquiry guided by the concept "teacher as stranger" as a component of professional development. (Contains 12 notes.)