Introduces a collection of papers that discuss using personal histories to better understand teacher preparation and development. The article explains what personal histories are, why it is important to write about and research them, and how to understand the power of personal histories in the work and lives of teachers. (SM)

Maintains that early formative experiences have a strong impact on the way beginning teachers think about teaching and about becoming professionals, and that teacher training institutions must accommodate and deal with the autobiographies of preservice teachers; otherwise, future beginning teachers will teach as they were taught. (SR)

Teacher educators must understand how personal histories influence the development of new teachers' pedagogies to influence how personal histories shape conclusions preservice teachers reach during college. The article examines insights gained from personal histories, discusses pedagogical thinking, and explains the impact educators' personal…

Examines the influence of educational experiences on preservice teachers' images and expectations of self as teacher, noting disillusionments in relation to understanding about the meaning of teaching. The paper explores discrepancies between preservice teachers' expectations and realities of schools, classrooms, and students. Relevant strategies…

Drawing on one educator's experiences as a beginning professor, the article discusses the prospects of teacher education reform and beginning teachers as change agents, commenting on values conflicts within schools of education and between them and broader university communities, politics of epistemology, and reward structures in schools of…