Body and soul: a study of narratives of creative people who teach

This chapter focuses on the ‘Body and Soul' project which is part of a wider narrative of myself as a teacher educator trying to theorise the relationship between creativity and teacher knowledge. It written in the context of an interest in creativity, immersive focus, finding one's element and developing craft in public discourse (Sennett, 2009, Gladwell, 2009, Robinson, 2010). There is a parallel discourse in teacher education. Current policies for the qualification of teachers in UK mainstream education describe sets of ‘standards' for qualification in the education workforce which can promote an instrumental model of learning professionals. These may lose some of the more complex understandings of the ways of knowing that are reflected in the pedagogic relationship between learners and teachers, and the contexts in which they live and work together (TDA, 2007, Putnam and Borko, 2000, Hudson, 2007). It begins with a personal assertion, steps back to explain a theoretical backdrop and then draws upon some themes from the narratives of the learning lives of creative people who teach. Its intention is to make more vivid the concepts of ‘depth, scope and reach' in teacher knowledge in these times of challenge and change