Reflections of an Academic Father

Trevor Stewart

OAI: oai:igi-global.com:301942 • DOI: 10.4018/978-1-6684-3460-4.ch007

This chapter discusses the complexity of balancing the professional and personal goals and identities that can often seem incongruent as teacher educators manage the demands of life in the academy. The author explores that complexity by discussing what he learned from reflecting upon his efforts to balance the tension between his professional and personal goals as an academic and as a father. He draws upon dialogical-self theory to discuss ways the facets of one's identity can be brought into dialogue with one another as people respond to the challenges they encounter. The chapter describes the reflective process of engaging in dialogue with philosophical mentors that supported the author's efforts to manage the tensions created by feeling like his senses-of-self as an academic and as a father were at odds. By sharing his struggles and his reflective process for responding to tension, the author aims to help readers find ways to see tension as a mechanism for growth and their own complex identities as sources of insight.

Professional Development Education Teacher Education Social Sciences and Humanities Library and Information Science