Description
In teacher education we have many practices building on stories. Learning from each other’s practice and research stories in teacher educators’ professional learning is not only very common, but also a preferred way of learning (MacPhail et al., 2019). This study inquires the collaborative practices and processes in a workshop of teacher educators’ professional learning with an aesthetic approach. The stories which emerge in this context concern more-than-human relationality. How does collaborative making-with contribute to becoming-professional for teacher educators is therefore the question which engages us.In this article, we situate the stories outlined above in a new materialist and affirming critical perspective. Haraway (2016) inspires us about thinking more-than-human relationality and about decentring the human, in both telling and listening to stories. Making-with, sympoiesis, as a part of a curious practice (Despret in Haraway, 2016) is theory we think with about the more-than-human relationality in the workshops. Teacher educators’ professional learning is in this study addressed as becoming-professional in order to emphasize the continuity and performativity of the process of professional learning (cf. Deleuze & Guattari, 1988).
This study is an inquiry of experiencing collaborative professional learning from twelve teacher educators in a Norwegian context. The empirical material for this article is based on written interviews with - and letters from teacher educators on professional learning. Two workshops’ empirical material is most prominent included in the analysis. A central question we worked with in these workshops is; ‘What is going on/ happening in this picture’ (Hailey et al., 2015)as well as a practical assignment based on; ‘Tell me something I can see’. In the workshops called ‘Storying together about our practice’ teacher educators explored how theme’s like create, play, tell, were a part of their practice by interviewing each other. We attentively listened to the audio recordings from the workshops with an aesthetic approach.
The preliminary discussion shows how an affirmative critical perspective opens to see how passing and receiving in the more-than-human relationality can be seen in the light of curious practice. The emerging stories support this. A new story is in an early stage of emerging, and will create space for knowledge emerging through making-with in becoming-professional. With to little focus and means on possibilities for collaborative professional learning in teacher educators’ practices in Nordic countries (MacPhail et al., 2019), our study opens up to see more than already is present through more-than-human relationalities.
| Period | 6 Mar 2025 |
|---|---|
| Event title | NERA: Nordic Educational Research Association |
| Event type | Conference |
| Degree of Recognition | International |