Becoming a teacher educator: The rise of Crusader Rabbit

Abstract

On a New Zealand marae, it is customary for orators to establish their authority to speak at a formal gathering by acknowledging how they are connected to kith and kin in the audience and wider circles; what contexts, landmarks, rivers, and mountains have dominated their horizons and what major events have impacted on their lives. They do this to locate themselves in the present situation while acknowledging and respecting the importance of people – past and present – contexts, and events. I use this framework to structure my account of how my identity as a teacher educator has been shaped. I recall the impetus for becoming a science teacher and the path I followed from becoming a science teacher educator to being a teacher educator. The significant people, institutional contexts and circumstances that have been most influential have been elevated in status retrospectively as I have dwelt on how they have informed my practice and shaped my identity. At the time, these were “just” colleagues that I worked with, places I found myself in, and scenarios that unfolded in front of me. I have tried to untangle the threads in order to weave a stronger, coherent strand but it is an inherently messy business. The sense I make of these transformative experiences and influential people with the benefit of hindsight and the wisdom of experience, illuminates my future-focused journey of being a teacher educator in rapidly changing times.