Being and Becoming an Experienced Teacher
Date
2013-12-23
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Abstract
This thesis inquires into what it is to be and to become an experienced teacher. Although becoming an experienced teacher in part depends upon acquiring epistemological knowledge, such as instructional strategies and content knowledge, this study explores the relational qualities of experience.
Drawing on the philosophical writings of Hans-Georg Gadamer and particularly his theory of Erfahrung, this thesis journeys into the existential and ontological questions that undergird the core themes of citizenship and identity stipulated in the Alberta Social Studies Program of Studies. These journeys are methodologically supported by examining inner and outer pathways including conversations, autobiographical reflections, and readings.
Becoming experienced calls for teachers to embark on an existential quest with fellow travellers. This journey requires the cultivation of a pedagogical attunement that embraces the otherness of the other. Encounters with otherness may unsettle our understandings of the world and engender an inner awareness of our own historicity. Insights gained from journeys with others contribute to our capacity to responsibly respond to the particularity of the children entrusted to our care and the cultivation of discernment—ethical judgments that are reflective, intentional, and contextual.
Erfahrung does not seek a fixed or final destination; rather to be and to become experienced recognizes the finitude and conditionedness of our understandings. Thus, to be and to become experienced is always on the way. Throughout this journey we are required to put our understandings at risk—honouring the vulnerability and precariousness of our factical lives. While co-venturing with others we are called upon to hear the voice of the other that occasions more fulsome understandings of others, the world and oneself. Accordingly, being an experienced teacher orients us to a radical openness, which occasions the possibility of the not yet known. This thesis culminates in five touchstones that characterize Gadamer’s theory of Erfahrung.
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Education--Curriculum and Instruction, Education--Philosophy of, Education--Social Sciences
Citation
Skuce, T. (2013). Being and Becoming an Experienced Teacher (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca. doi:10.11575/PRISM/25106