Reading Outside The Classroom For The Life Inside

Reading Outside the Classroom for the Life Inside is a study that explored teachers' personal practical knowledge concerning the reading that teachers did outside of the classroom for the curriculum-making they do inside. The stories of professional reading experiences that were collected told of the reading that was being done in relation to the social contexts which existed for each participant within their school environments. A narrative inquiry framework was used. Through the participants' stories of experience (Connelly & Clandinin), images that participants held of themselves as readers on the professional knowledge landscape (Clandinin & Connelly) concerning the reading they did to inform their curriculum-making in the classroom with their students in that particular time and place were revealed. Using Craig's telling stories approach to narrative inquiry and the interpretive strategies of Clandinin and Connelly's method of writing teacher stories and stories or teachers, sets of stories were created. It is revealed whether each participant encountered sacred stories (Craig; Crites; Olson & Craig) or told of cover stories (Clandinin & Connelly; Craig; Crites).