A Self Study Of A Higher Education Tutor: How Can I Improve My Practice?
This thesis is a self-study of a tutor in
higher education committed to practice improvement. It is presented as a study of singularity and an example of
first person education action research.
It is epistemologically and methodologically distinct in that it is
based on my values as an educator and ideas about what constitutes loving and
life affirming educational practice.
The aim of this thesis is to present a
storied account of my inquiry in which I explore what it means to live my
values in practice. Through
descriptions and explanations of my practice this thesis unveils a process of
action and reflection, punctuated by moments when I deny or fail to live my
values fully in practice, prompting the iterative question ÔHow do I improve my
practiceÕ? The reflective process
enabling me to better understand my practice and test out that understanding
with others in the public domain.
My claim to originality is embodied in the
aesthetics of my teaching and learning relationships as I respond to the
sources of humanity and the educative needs of my students, as I listen to
their stories and find an ethic of care in my teaching and learning
relationships that contain them in good company and that returns them to their
stories as more complete human beings.
Evidence is drawn from life-story work,
narrative accounting, student assignments, audio and video taped sessions of
teaching and learning situations, the latter of which include edited CDR files,
available in the appendix and explored in chapter nine, ÔDeveloping A
connoisseurs Eye: Exploring The Aesthetics Of My Teaching And Learning
RelationshipsÕ (on the MA in Personal and Organisational Development). These clips offer a glimpse of my
embodied claims to know what the creation of loving and life affirming
educative relations involves.