Ali Black

What it means to teach is becoming progressively more complex and ambiguous. For teachers, remaining confident about personal conceptions of teaching is becoming ever more difficult as a result of increased demands and changing educational environments. It is not surprising then, that the teachers who engaged in the collaborative inquiry in which this thesis is grounded so often asked "Who am I as teacher?". Six narrative accounts are developed in this thesis from data gathered while working with fourteen early childhood teachers employed in child care centres. During fortnightly meetings, across a period of five months, the researcher worked with two groups of teachers in a process of collaborative inquiry. The accounts highlight the many forces that make working in the contemporary work context of child care unique and sometimes difficult, and highlight teachers' meaning-making in everyday teaching situations. Attention to the dynamism and intensity of this contemporary workplace, and identification of ongoing dilemmas, provided a place to understand what it means to be a teacher within the realities of contemporary educational settings. Providing a collaborative context for acknowledging these realities, whilst re-directing reflection to focus on 'self-as-teacher' encouraged teachers to view the multiplicity, contradiction and emotion of their work differently. Situating self in the work context provided an opportunity to encompass more than evidence of ambiguity, to tune into enduring images and personal conceptions of being a teacher.