FACILITATING TEACHER CRITICAL AUTHENTICITY THROUGH POETIC INQUIRY

Abstract

Can a critical process and poetic inquiry support the reassessment, redefinition, resistance to, and/or dismantling of the notion of teacher authenticity? Responding to Bialystok’s (2015) call for a more rigorous examination into what defines teacher authenticity, this project invited teachers to reflect and present expressive action on the dominant interpretive framework of the notion of teacher authenticity.
Critical authenticity is introduced as a conceptual framework that engages with the ongoing narrative construction of the self. Using Foucault’s discussions on the ancient Greek ideas of epimeleia heautou (care of the self and others) and parrhesia (speaking truth to power), the idea of critical authenticity repositions individual exploratory self-journeys as well as their articulations within the discourses on authenticity. The project called for teachers to engage in a critical process of exploring themselves, articulating themselves – resisting/refusing the dominant narrative, to ‘alter power relations’ (Foucault, 1984:6).
Poetry is positioned here as the technique and articulatory tool for teachers to speak about their authenticities and challenge the dominant narrative on teacher authenticity. Poetic inquiry, the use of poetry in/as/for research (Faulkner, 2020), was used as a methodology and data collection method for its potential as a form that gives space for self-expression and a form that can ‘expose, highlight and undermine power’ (Leavy, 2010:240), and an ‘effective way to talk back to power’ (Prendergast, 2009: xxxviii).
The notion of critical authenticity is presented in the thesis as an original contribution to knowledge. Another original contribution is empirical research that questions the plausibility and applicability of the idea of teacher authenticity, thus also contributing to discourses on the effects of neo-liberal education reforms on teacher identity. The thesis also contributes to research using poetic inquiry in teacher self and identity studies, the use of poetry in teacher professional development, as well as a pedagogy for using poetry in teacher professional development.

Date of Award	29 Apr 2024
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Edge Hill University
Supervisor	AMANDA FULFORD (Director of Studies) & Jo Albin-Clark (Supervisor)