ABSTRACT
This is a new chapter with sections from the original Chapter 4, “Memories and Enactments: Experiential Narratives of Teaching and Learning,” included. This chapter is a description of the second genre of discourse explored in the book, ‘narratives of authority and vulnerability.’ Again, these types of narratives are defined and theorized, and then excerpts from the six participants’ interviews are cited to explicate how the 2016 participants used narratives to explore tensions between authority and vulnerability within their teaching personas. Conclusions state that becoming a teacher requires a candidate to enact positions of both authority and vulnerability in a symbiotic fashion, as each is dependent on the other for the creation of an effective teacher identity. Embracing vulnerability is central to developing a teacher self, as teachers’ authority is often contested in both cognitive and affective spaces.
