The Dialectics of Passion and Theory: Exploring The Relation Between Self-Study and Emotion*

Abstract

Initially this chapter focuses on three issues that emerge from our reading of the chapters in the Handbook’s second section. These issues include the relationship between the individual and the collective in the process and position of outcomes, the content of the knowledge produced, and the ways to, and the consequences for, that knowledge production. We consider the ways individual and collective aspects of self-study work merge and differentiate, the need for integrity and trustworthiness in this work, and strategies that allow expression in various forms. We explore the ways that professional knowledge relates to the pedagogy of teacher education and assert that understanding this pedagogy supports teacher educators in expe- riencing the satisfaction necessary to maintain the motivation and commit- ment they need to do their work. We argue that knowledge content needs to be broad and deep to complement the complexity and richness of teaching.We propose a framework that can be used to formulate, evaluate, and develop work in self-study. To do that we look beyond the technicist reductionism from the perspective of ‘‘knowing how to’’ toward a ‘‘being some-one who’’ perspective.We examine the moral dimension of knowledge that includes vulnerability in teaching, the integrity and trustworthiness necessary to do the work, and suggest the need for a language to address this dimension. We investigate the political dimension because the issues and dilemmas that simply appear to have moral ramifications may hide questions about power and interests. We suggest that we need to look at teacher knowledge more broadly and remember that relationships in educa- tional settings are not without emotional currents and that emotions are a central part of teaching. We offer ways to bring these dimensions together that will keep the passion in teaching and support the development of professional knowledge.