EXPERIENCING THE 4TH WALL - A NARRATIVE OF GRADUATE TEACHER-EDUCATIONIN CURRICULUM

The substance of the article to follow is exactly captured by the quot ation below from Pat's journal about her response to the subject matte r of my graduate course, which uses as its centerpiece Connelly and Cl andinin's recent book, Teachers as Curriculum Planners: Narratives of Experience (1988). 1 believe that I ... think, write, teach and drive to and fro ... using my narrative and my students' narratives from the ir lives. As I read Connelly/Clandinin's book, I see how my past as a student has heavily influenced the way I teach my courses and how I tr eat my students. People and their feelings are very important to me an d especially how they feel about the material at hand-what does it mea n to them and to their personal selves-how are they making it theirs? This information is very important to me and eventually to them and I always go first and take the first fisk with the class. Both Connelly and Clandinin were, are, and will be my teachers. I have chosen, not u ncritically, to have my 'thinking, writing, teaching, and driving' inf luenced by them. This article is my reflection on what has been valuab le for me in my education; how that intellectually energizes me and my students. It touches on many things: why I teach what I teach; a cour se text that is more than just another book; and what I am exploring i n my teaching, thinking, and administration.