Becoming a Teacher revisits the concept of Teacher Lore (Schubert and Ayers 1992) by
providing a cross-disciplinary approach linking elements of narrative theory to all aspects of
pre- and in-service teaching. In essence it embraces the notion that what teachers say
matters. The rationale behind this text is the idea that narrative can not only be a conceptual
lens through which a particular discipline can be re-examined but also an aid to help
preservice teachers understand the potential importance of personal experience and reflective
ways of knowing as they learn to become teachers. In addition this book serves as a reminder
to those of us in teacher education that the very mandates that control so much of our
curricula funding and publishing decisions can be reconstructed to reflect what we know is
good teaching - and what we know works in spite of standardized testing and accountability
measures that declare the opposite.
