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Stories from the Practice of Teaching Teachers

First-person accounts from teacher educators, mentors, and coaches: what happened, what it cost, and what they would do differently.

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All StoriesInside the PracticeStories of PracticeBecoming a Teacher EducatorTeacher Leadership in PracticeProblems of PracticeResearch into PracticeAcross ContextsFrom the Exchange
Teacher educators in conversation around a table
FROM THE EXCHANGE

Why The Teacher Educator Exchange Exists

Making room for the knowledge of teaching teachers

By Brandon M. Butler
Sep 1, 2026 · 12 min read
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BECOMING A TEACHER EDUCATOR
Becoming a Teacher Educator Across Borders
Why understanding teacher educators may be essential to strengthening teacher preparation in Haiti
Steevenson Rosema
8 min read
University-based, International
Doctoral student
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FROM THE EXCHANGE
Why The Teacher Educator Exchange Exists
Making room for the knowledge of teaching teachers
Brandon M. Butler
12 min read
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FROM THE EXCHANGE
Building the Cathedral
Why we keep building what we may never see completed
Brandon M. Butler
8 min read
University-based
Doctoral student, University professor, Teacher education leader
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INSIDE THE PRACTICE
Leading When No One Is Really in Charge
What complexity can teach us about improving teacher education
Brandon M. Butler & Diane Yendol-Hoppey
10 min read
University-based
University professor, Teacher education leader
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TEACHER LEADERSHIP IN PRACTICE
The First Thing a Coach Needs to Learn Is Not to Have the Answer
What changes when experienced teachers begin facilitating the learning of other adults
Brandon M. Butler
8 min read
School-based
Teacher leader, Instructional coach
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BECOMING A TEACHER EDUCATOR
Teacher Leaders Need Places to Learn, Too
Why the people responsible for everyone else's professional learning need a developmental space of their own
Brandon M. Butler
9 min read
School-based, District-based
Mentor teacher, Instructional coach, Teacher leader
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RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE
You Don't Learn Self-Study by Standing Outside It
How skepticism, vulnerability, collaboration, and public sharing can reshape a researcher's scholarly identity
Brandon M. Butler, Mark M. Diacopoulos, & Kristen H. Gregory
9 min read
Research
Researcher
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PROBLEMS OF PRACTICE
“Can I Even Teach This?”
Controversial issues, elementary classrooms, and professional judgment in a politically charged climate
Brandon M. Butler & Stephen Burgin
11 min read
University-based, School-based
Social studies, Science
Methods instructor, University professor
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INSIDE THE PRACTICE
Teaching the Teaching of Controversy
Why helping candidates believe in a pedagogy is not the same as helping them enact it
Brandon M. Butler & Stephen Burgin
9 min read
University-based, School-based
Social studies, Science
Methods instructor, University professor
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Popular Topics
Becoming a Teacher Educator28 stories›Teacher Leadership in Practice32 stories›Problems of Practice26 stories›Inside the Practice24 stories›Research into Practice18 stories›

Types of Stories

Eight ways teacher educators tell the story of their work. Choose a strand to browse—or to write for.

Inside the practice
Inside the Practice
Feedback, mentoring, coaching, supervision, methods teaching, professional learning, and teacher leadership.
2 stories →
Stories of practice
Stories of Practice
Short narratives of consequential moments, dilemmas, failures, tensions, and learning.
1 story →
Becoming a teacher educator
Becoming a Teacher Educator
Transitions from classroom teaching into mentoring, coaching, clinical work, doctoral study, and university roles.
1 story →
Teacher leadership in practice
Teacher Leadership in Practice
How teachers facilitate adult learning, collaborative inquiry, curriculum work, and improvement.
1 story →
Problems of practice
Problems of Practice
Dilemmas examined from multiple roles and settings.
1 story →
Research into practice
Research into Practice
Concise translations of scholarship into implications for teachers, coaches, mentors, and teacher educators.
2 stories →
Across contexts
Across Contexts
Comparative and international accounts of teacher learning and teacher education.
None yet — be the first →
From the Exchange
From the Exchange
Commentaries on teacher learning and teacher education, and the ideas, issues, and conditions shaping the work of teaching teachers.
2 stories →
Have a story to tell?
Every strand is open to practitioners. Pitch a piece from your own setting.
Share Your Story

Thinking of writing for us?

Two things worth knowing before you pitch — what a story does here, and what to send.

What a strong story does
What a strong story does
It stays inside one concrete moment rather than summarizing a career. It names the setting and the role you were playing, says what you actually did — including what did not work — and leaves the reader with something they could try in their own context.
What to send
What to send
1,200–2,000 words of plain prose, a working title, and two or three takeaways a reader could act on. Citations only where they carry weight. A 50–75 word bio and a headshot.
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