Personal experience as a guide to teaching

In this paper, the authors analyze their experiences in using storytelling about teaching to prepare second-career teacher candidates. Cases of two program participants are developed to show how personal experiences, rather than multicultural program ideals, became instantiated as guides for teaching practice. The authors show how prospective teachers developed a speech community in which they clarified their individual paths to school success and attempted to transport these understandings to instructing students of color who were struggling in school. For analyses, the authors draw on ideas about how people work in differing social groups with particular discourses that support group cohesiveness and ideals. Implications for teacher education using narrative as a vehicle for critical reflection are presented.