The Denial of the Personal, the Preservation of the Status Quo in Teacher Education

This paper presents two stories of learning and teaching. Through the stories, the author explores the relationship between personal history-based learning and teaching practice and advocates a process of reflexive inquiry for teacher learning and teacher education. A major focus is on how a curriculum and pedagogy of reflexive inquiry can transform, deepen and broaden conceptions of teacher education as well as make a difference in how teachers see and express themselves in educational contexts. The author also describes the meanings and implications of a personal history pedagogy for teacher education institutions as well as the contextual changes required for such transformative practices to be adopted.