ABSTRACT
Teachers are shaped, in part at least, by their life experience and the values, aspirations and beliefs which develop as a result of such experiences. This chapter explores life history through two dimensions: the personal learning journey of the individual professional and its importance in illustrating what all teachers should possess as professional knowledge and awareness; and the way that the life histories of ‘ethnic others’ can be forgotten, ignored or marginalised in the generalised and generalising narratives of textbooks, unless those in positions of power are sensitive to the excluding nature of traditional historiography and representation of the past.
