Reflections Through invisible glass walls: Self-study of teacher and artist

Abstract

'Things that are so much a part of us that they remain unnoticed are like 'invisible glass walls'. They are noticed only when we walk into them' (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988, p. 10). Reflective practice has long been advocated in teacher education as a means to improve one's awareness and effectiveness as a teacher. Self-study, which incorporates reflective practice, promotes opportunities for forming new insights and meaning-making about self-as-teacher. As a teacher who is also an artist, I provide, in this paper, a glimpse into my personal walk through Connelly and Clandinin's invisible glass walls as I attempt to understand how being a teacher and being an artist may inform and challenge each other. Indeed, Stenhouse suggests that 'through self-monitoring the teacher becomes a conscious artist. Through conscious art he [sic] is able to use himself as an instrument of his research' (cited in Ruddick & Hopkins, 1985, pp. 15-16).