Becoming a teacher: Weaving a tapestr

This narrative study reveals how experienced, reflective teachers have become the teachers they are today. Five elementary teachers' narratives were written collaboratively with the researcher over a period of three years. Heuristic inquiry provided the theoretical framework for the study. Data were collected through extensive interviews over an eighteen month period. Observations in the teachers' classrooms provided an understanding of the content and context of the teachers' lives.;The focus of the study was the teachers' narratives, as the unifying mode for bringing together all that the teachers have been and have experienced. The narratives were also the method for discovering the meaning behind how they became the teachers they are today.;The narratives were analyzed using a story structure framework. The themes and turning points in the teachers' narratives formed the basis for the findings and were confirmed by the teachers. The findings show that becoming a teacher is closely intertwined with and related to becoming a person. The narratives chronicled personal, professional "journeys." Other keys to the teachers' development were collaboration, being open to new experiences and change, and learning from different life experiences.;The findings also show that all the teachers continue to be learners, and that their "journeys" of "becoming" continue. This study provides a unique contribution to the knowledge about teacher development, particularly experienced teachers. It captures their voices and their thinking about teaching and learning through the development of their own narratives. The study also contributes to research methods for narrative inquiry and analysis.