Teaching About Teaching Using Technology: Using Embodiment to Interpret Online Pedagogies of Teacher Education

Abstract

In this chapter, our aim is to consider the ways in which collaborative self-study helped us to disrupt our assumptions and deepen our understandings of the challenges of teaching about teaching online. We take up Zeichner " s (2007) challenge to make connections across self-studies that we have conducted both individually and collaboratively. Specifically, we use theories of embodiment to highlight how teaching about teaching using digital technologies poses significant challenges to the ways in which we think about and enact our pedagogies of teacher education. In particular we focus upon our experiences of the ways relationships are formed and emotions communicated when digital technologies provide the main context for teaching and learning. Data were gathered in the form of reflective journal entries, emails to one another, and recorded video conversations (e.g., Skype). Bullock and Ritter " s (2011) notion of turning points was employed as an analytic guide, identifying instances when collaborative self-study brought about new understandings of teacher education practice. The first finding is that asynchronous teaching-learning platforms create salient challenges for both teacher educators and teacher candidates/teacher education students in terms of developing and maintaining meaningful relationships. The absence of " real-time " communications in asynchronous online courses often means that participants