CASE RECORDS AS PERSONAL TEACHING TEXTS FOR STUDY IN PRESERVICE TEACHER-EDUCATION

Drawing on insights from the use of journals and portfolios in teacher education and cases in nursing, the author describes an approach usin g case records as Personal Teaching Texts to facilitate beginning teac her development. Data are drawn from a study of 20 secondary teacher e ducation students enrolled in a year-long certification program. Resul ts indicate that the students valued the approach and that for the maj ority it enabled development, particularly of reflectivity, and was a means for providing program coherence. Suggestions are made for design ing useful texts, weaknesses in the approach are identified, and sugge stions made for improvement.