The intellectual journey of a history teacher with regard to history and its education

Many teachers study other teachers yet it is rare that they research themselves. Teacher identity, although a contemporary research topic, often neglects research into self-identity. This study provides a personalized journey of identity transformation as a History teacher that is fostered and informed by epistemological change in the domains of History and pedagogy. The scope of the study provides a detailed study of two selves to explore transformation across time wherein identity is understood as a developmental construct that involves an acquired epistemic stance and membership in a professional community. Four meaningful themes are identified for understanding identity transformation: an understanding of curriculum (inquiry, venues, ideology); the influence of various philosophical and theoretical frameworks from academic History; pedagogical practices shaped by curriculum reform and wider social, cultural and political factors; and, the emergence of being conscious of Rüsen’s (2001, 2005) concept of historical consciousness through teaching History Extension in New South Wales, Australia. The method of autoethnography is used in the form of an analytical-evocative construct to explore identity transformation over time and how this is intertwined with other influences. Autoethnography is used as a form of narrative writing to invite readers into my experiences and allows me explore the impact of social, cultural, historical, and political forces on my transformation across time. It is found that knowledge acquisition is rhizomic and results in a personal curriculum discourse that involves a re-conceptualization of curriculum inquiry that accounts for the influences from postmodernism and poststructuralism. A final stage of transformation, a post-liminal stage, results in a nuanced form of epistemic fluency. The narrative with its accompanying intermezzos and their analyses identifies theoretical, pedagogical, and philosophical findings relating to academic History, pedagogy, and teacher identity. The study contributes to autoethnography and as a method of self-examination and identity transformation for other History teachers. The study contributes to knowledge from the unique combination of pedagogical experience in History Extension and to a lesser extent, Aboriginal Studies, and the provision of such an analysis for the first time.