This article addresses ten 'tricky' questions related to narrative inquiry in the field of language teaching and learning research. The questions come from the author's experiences of presenting lectures and seminars on narrative inquiry in many different contexts. The questions deal with issues to do specifically with narrative inquiry methods as…

The tenure process for faculty at all types of higher education institutions and in all disciplines is oftentimes ambiguous (O'Meara, 2011; O'Meara, Terosky, & Neumann, 2008). This is especially true in the understudied comprehensive university, which has experienced significant individual and system-based change over the last 30 years (Youn…

The constraints and demands on teachers and students, related to implementing English medium instruction (EMI), mean that teachers need to be able to reflect on their practice and make appropriate adjustments. Reflective practice generally means that EMI teachers subject their philosophy of practice, principles, theories and practices to a…

Educators are a special group of professional practitioners. They are often characterized as self-directed, lifelong learners who routinely implement some level of reflection to improve instruction. Dewey referred to these reflective practitioners as professionals who, in an effort to continually develop their practice, actively consider multiple…

This counternarrative is an homage to the work of abolition in teacher education and a call to humanizing liberatory praxis as collective healing from racism and anti-Black hate. We, three critical teacher educators, interrogate our positionalities and the experiences within and beyond schooling that have shaped us. We recognize that our…

It has been well chronicled that Black professors have experienced a long history of inequities and inequalities within the academic space. This volume explores the experiences, challenges and triumphs experienced by Black professors. Including personal essays written by Black professors, this volume showcases personal insights and inspirational…

This article primarily focuses on a North Korean defector, JeongOk Lee, and her experience before and after defecting from North Korea to South Korea. Her personal struggles are illustrated through language difficulties, food terminology, and her teaching experience in both North and South Korea. Collaborative witnessing, a form of…

Using a social justice framework provides opportunities to engage pre-service and in-service teachers in reflexive thinking centered on issues of access, equity, and social justice. This is particularly prudent in light of recently documented cases of injustice. In attempting to undertake a critical stance, there is value in embracing what Freire…

This book explores the concept of the "best-loved self" in teaching and teacher education, asserting that the best-loved self is foundational to the development of teacher identity, growth in context, and learning in community. Drawing on the work of Joseph Schwab, who was the first to name the "best-loved self," the editors…

This is a personal narrative about my transformative journey as an educator through the calamities of the failed perestroika in the Soviet Union and cultural shocks of living in the United States and Canada. I analyze the factors contributing to my academic abilities that allowed me to graduate with a PhD in mathematics from a university in Russia…

In response to the Covid-19 pandemic, on 18 March 2020, Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the immediate closure of schools in England. (The closure was not absolute: schools would remain open for vulnerable children and the children of key workers. In practice, though, very few children have continued to attend.) In what follows, nine English…

Arts specialist teachers have a unique place in primary schools. They are often the sole teacher responsible for an entire learning area and hence commonly provide leadership and drive the curriculum implementation of the arts in and for their school. This responsibility finds us asking questions about the ability of arts specialist teachers to…

This article explores the ways in which the language of the hero's journey can serve as a heuristic for teachers at all stages of their professional experience. Teachers in Canada and the United States were interviewed via Skype about their experiences around writing and literacy. Four teachers are profiled here, two from Canada and two from the…

This manuscript uses a joint autoethnographic methodology to explore the experiences of two language teacher scholars working in the academy outside the global centre in Japan. Emphasis is given to how the methodology used, cycles of reflective writing, reveals commonalities and differences in our respective experiences of working in the Japanese…

This research explored how three teachers' subjectivities permeated their teaching lives, and how the emergence of self-insight was made available for deep exploration, potentially enabling these teachers to engage more fully with others in the context of teaching. Psychoanalytic theory was used to explore how teachers' narratives take shape and…