This series in Teacher Education: Self-study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) has been created in order to offer clear and strong examples of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices. It explicitly values the work of teachers and teacher educators and through the research of their practice, offers insights into new ways of encouraging educational change. The series is designed to complement the Inter- tional Handbook of Self-study of Teaching and Teacher Education practices (Loughran, Hamilton, LaBoskey, & Russell, 2004) and as such, helps to further define this important field of teaching and research. Self-study of teaching and teacher education practices has become an important 'way in'to better understanding the complex world of teaching and learning about teaching. The questions, issues and concerns, of teacher educators in and of their own practice are dramatically different to those raised by observers of the field. Hence, self-study can be seen as an invitation to teacher educators to more meani- fully link research and practice in ways that matter for their pedagogy and, as a consequence, their students'learning about pedagogy.

This book captures the excitement - and the difficulties - of self-study of teacher education practices, placing it at the forefront of approaches to practitioner inquiry. It offers insight into the relationship between teaching about teaching and learning about teaching that emerged through the author's own self-study project. The book illustrates how tensions can act as a means for both analysing practice and articulating the professional knowledge that comprises a pedagogy of teacher education.

From the reviews

"In this book, Amanda Berry offers a comprehensive self-study about her practices as a Biology teacher educator. It offers a clear grasp of the issues and ideas underpinning a pedagogy of teacher education in practice. Framed in terms of teaching tensions based on Berry's analysis of her data, this book is is not only interesting and insightful but also offers a model for the direction of self-study. This is an outstanding piece of work that will be of considerable interest and value to other teacher education scholars." - Ken Zeichner, Hoefs-Bascom Professor of Teacher Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison