Self-Study for Teacher Educators

The Author: Anastasia P. Samaras is Associate Professor of Education and Director of Teacher Education at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. Her commitment to teaching spans thirty years and encompasses teaching in junior and senior high schools, preschools, and universities. She is the author of numerous publications of her self-study and interpretation of Vygotskian principles in a teacher education program and the recipient of distinguished service awards for her leadership in education.

«‘In Self-Study for Teacher Educators’, Anastasia Samaras provides a compelling account of a teacher educator who serves as a model reflective practitioner for her teacher education students. Using her life experiences, her own teaching journals, and her students’ journals and assignments, Samaras presents an account of her efforts to implement a sociocultural approach to teacher education based on the work of Vygotsky. The book documents her own evolution as a teacher educator and her students' reactions to her teaching. This autobiographical self-study provides a good example of the power of self-study research in improving teacher education practice. I highly recommend it to teacher educators.» (Ken Zeichner, Hoefs-Bascom Professor of Teacher Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison)«This exciting and innovative book will assist teacher educators to reflect on their own practice. Samaras has interrogated pedagogy and practice within the social cultural perspective in such a way as to cause us to rethink the content and processes inherent to preservice teacher educators and continuing professional development with teachers in the field. For too long those involved in teacher education have not been exemplary role models for the pedagogy that they advocate. ‘Self-Study for Teacher Educators’ demonstrates one professor’s journey to effective teaching and learning, which we can all aspire to and learn from. It is essential reading for all those who want to reconceptualise their practice and make a valuable contribution to lifelong and lifewide learning.» (Nicola Yelland, Professor, RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia)«At the end of her study, Anastasia Samaras writes, «Predetermined destinations do not lead us to new roads.» ‘Self-Study for Teacher Educators’ presents a remarkable journey of self-discovery, a journey that leads from lessons learned while working in her father’s Greek restaurant and from motherhood to Vygotskian principles for teacher education. Anastasia Samaras’ message is that life is full of wonder and surprise and that joy can be found in teaching and in studying one’s own practice.» (Robert V. Bullough, Jr., Center for the Improvement of Teacher Education and Schooling (CITES), Brigham Young University)«In remarkable and compelling ways, Dr. Samaras uses Vygotskian principles to link the two domains about which I am most passionate: preservice teacher education and self-study of teacher education practices. The rich illustrations and novel perspectives will inspire important developments in teacher education.» (Tom Russell, Queen's University, Canada)