This edited book offers a compelling exploration of the personal and professional lives of educators through four thematic arcs. Using autoethnography, contributors share intimate narratives that reveal how emotion, experience and context shape educational practice. Part 1: Transition and Change reflects on career shifts and adaptation within evolving educational landscapes. Part 2: Leadership and Mentorship explores the emotional and strategic dimensions of guiding others through complex institutional roles. Part 3: Professional Identity and Growth examines how educators redefine themselves through experience, supervision and creative practice. Part 4: Reflective Practice highlights the transformative power of storytelling, feedback and relational engagement in shaping teaching and learning. The books broad scope and interdisciplinary appeal offer insights into resilience, mentorship, identity and growth, making it a valuable resource for educators, students and researchers seeking to understand the human dimensions of teaching, learning and leadership.
Chapter 1: Approach, themes and literature base.
Chapter 2: From
Academic Labourer to Self employed Autoethnographer: bringing myself back
into research.
Chapter 3: Actual intelligence: There is nothing new under
the sun.
Chapter 4: Education, work and social change in post-industrial
Britain: a critical autoethnography.
Chapter 5: An autoethnographic account
of leaving higher education: Critical wayfinding and reflections on
transitions and values in academia.
Chapter 6: Reflections on a Journey of
Professional Learning and Leadership.
Chapter 7: Navigating love, loss and
leadership: A headteachers journey.
Chapter 8: The clinic is already in the
classroom: Autoethnographic reflections on moving from clinical to academic
psychology.
Chapter 9: Assessing the Sustainability of Senior Leadership in
UK Secondary Schools: A Tale of Contrasting Leadership.
Chapter 10: Did I
get lost or am I supposed to be here?.
Chapter 11: My supervisor was
hopeless: Narratives, contrastive rhetoric and doctoral supervision.-
Chapter 12: A physicians journey of self-discovery and its impact for
teaching clinical decision-making.
Chapter 13: From Home and Away to
Higher Education: Learning beyond the Classroom.
Chapter 14: The Golden
Thread: Creative Teaching.
Chapter 15: Navigating Masculinities to Cultivate
Rapport.
Chapter 16: Whats your Story? Storytelling as a Reflective Tool in
Teacher Education.
Chapter 17: Learning to give feedback on student writing:
An autoethnography.
Chapter 18: From my world to the classroom: Personal
insights shaping professional practice.
Chapter 19: Conclusion and Last Note
Reverie.
Scott J. Threlfall is Assistant Professor in the School of Education at the University of Greater Manchester, UK. An international keynote speaker, he brings interdisciplinary expertise across sport, teaching and learning, education and teacher training. His research focuses on reflective practice, teacher noticing, autoethnography and pedagogical innovation in education.
Jerome Carson is Professor of Psychology at the University of Greater Manchester, UK. Jerome has over 300 scientific publications. He was recently awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award for his research by the university. He worked in the National Health Service as a clinical psychologist for 27 years.
Geoff Baker is CEO of the True Learning Partnership, Emeritus Professor of Education at the University of Greater Manchester, and Honorary Visiting Professor of Education at Liverpool Hope University, UK. A distinguished educator and historian, he has authored or edited ten books and published extensively across both fields.
