ABSTRACT

A third type of narrative that emerged from the data set was the narrative about the embodiment of teacher identity. In addition to mastering the language of the teacher and having the necessary pedagogical and theoretical knowledge, a new teacher must learn how to physically embody the identity of teacher. Embodiment narratives in this book are connected to experiential narratives because memories, of course, have a sensory, corporeal component. Many readers are likely to be familiar with the theories of Donald Schon (1983, 1990) who, like Dewey, has explored the centrality of experience in the education of a teacher. Schon noted, “Once we put aside the model of Technical Rationality, which leads us to think of intelligent practice as an application of knowledge to instrumental decisions, there is nothing strange about the idea that a kind of knowing is inherent in intelligent action” (1983, p. 50).