In 1965, Nature published an editorial called “Education and Change” by Alexander King. He wrote: “it is a chief task of our particular age to preserve the best of our past and incorporate it in a new and aspiring culture”. Fifty years later this is as true as ever, but with a subtle shift. King was referring to tensions in what to teach, while today his quote is especially relevant to questions about how we teach. The last 50 years have seen the introduction of technologies and teaching methods that are profoundly changing the way we teach. In parallel, new tools have been developed to quantify the effectiveness of teaching methods. Here, we present a complementary approach to navigating King’s tension: self-study (Loughran, 2005). Self-study is a methodology for reflective practice grounded in the philosophy that educators possess unique expertise at teaching in their own disciplines. The methodology provides a forum for collegial discourse on questions from teaching effectiveness, to purpose, and experience. In this workshop, we introduce our collaboration through the lenses of our own disciplines (Education, Biology). Participants will be introduced to the methods of self-study, including the role of the ‘critical friend’, and will participate in the process through writing, reflection, and discussion. We will wrap up with a discussion on the role of self-study and reflective practice in navigating the changing educational landscape. This workshop will provide interested participants with the model and tools needed to pursue their own self-study or reflective practice.
King, A. (1965). Education and change. Nature, 206, 1078-1083.
Loughran, J. (2005). Researching teaching about teaching: Self-study of teacher education practices. Studying Teacher Education, 1, 5-16.
