Over the past 15 years, an international body of scholars interested in the self-study of teacher education practices has developed. During that time, these self-study scholars have developed their own extensive and quite diverse literature base, a specialized academic journal, a strong presence at the leading research conference for academics in teacher education, and networks of collaborative partnerships at the international, national, regional, and institutional levels. In many ways, these scholars are quite similar to most other groups of academics who share a common interest. Yet, it is our experience that participating in this self-study community is quite different from our experiences as members of other scholarly interest groups. We believe these experiential differences arise, in part, because a unique set of cultural norms have encouraged the creation of an international community of scholars for whom a collaborative learning process, both within and outside the self-study community, is of paramount importance.
The dedication of the self-study community to fostering a collaborative learning process can best be seen through a close examination of the development of a biennial international conference on the self-study of teacher education practices. We believe that a collaborative learning community, like that of the Castle Conference, emerges within a conscious and deliberate design that enables supportive and collegial engagement and interactions within the processes for planning the conference, for editing the conference proceedings, and for participating during the conference. In this chapter, we will provide a brief history of the Castle Conference, describe the editorial processes that have evolved since the conference's inception, and discuss the conference norms that play a critically important role in creating and maintaining an international learning community for self-study scholars. We will close with a brief discussion of how we have used our experiences in the selfstudy community and as participants in the Castle Conference to foster a small but growing learning community within our own institution.
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Heston, M.L., Tidwell, D.L., Fitzgerald, L.M. (2008). Creating an International Learning Community for Teacher Education Scholars. In: Samaras, A.P., Freese, A.R., Kosnik, C., Beck, C. (eds) Learning Communities In Practice. Explorations of Educational Purpose, vol 4. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-8788-2_12
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