CHAPTER 5
AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL
INQUIRY
Sue Lyons was offered her first teaching position in a primary-grade building. Her family and friends,, who had supported her during her years of undergraduate teacher preparation, enthusiastically celebrated this opportunity with her. Sue so wanted to become a great teacher. She loved learning and was determined to create the kind of first-grade classroom that would enkindle that same love in her students. She spent the summer months before school started as most new teachers do: constructing materials for her students to use, planning her first week of lessons, and hoping she would never lose the spirit and passion she felt at that moment.
Sue somehow knew that there was more to good teaching than being prepared with well-crafted lessons and being liked by her students. She seemed to be the kind of teacher who placed high value on her own professional growth and who would take risks, explore, and experiment to provide the most imaginative educational experiences for her students. Yet, Sue was young, she was inexperienced, and she was just beginning to understand that if she were to succeed at being a "good" teacher, she would have to be comfortable with who she was and what she was becoming-as a human being and then as a teacher. recognizing Sue's need for guidance, her principal spent many hours with her, allaying her fears, calming some of her anxiety, supporting her enthusiasm, and encouraging her to ask herself right from the, beginning: "What do I want my personal/professional life story to be?"
The principal knew that Sue Lyons would be facing many crossroads personally and professionally. She would be confronted with traditional, controlling approaches to teaching all around her. She would .feel uncomfortable with fellow teachers eager to mold her into