The practice of teaching takes on renewed significance in today’s changing educational landscape. In the quest for transformative teaching and learning, there are both familiar and unfamiliar paths to be traversed. While significant contributions are being made by culturally responsive pedagogies, less is understood about the inner life of teachers as they navigate the outer systems of their practice. To address this area of research opportunity, the author used the conceptual framework of humanizing pedagogy and deep pedagogy to explore the inner and outer landscapes of teacher practice. As a method of inquiry, educational criticism afforded a qualitative approach for the study of teachers as they navigate the systems of teaching and learning towards personal and educational transformation. Pedagogical signatures, classroom ecologies, and deep wonder were some of the enduring outcomes resulting from the study. The author argues that humanizing the educational experience resides in a teacher’s ability to reimagine teaching and learning as heart-mind-spirit work. As an implication from the study, the author suggests that imagination and critical consciousness work dialectically to create an ethically informed and spiritually infused third space in which curriculum, teaching, and learning transcend the educational flatland and become highly dynamic, generative, and relational in the formation and transformation of teacher practice.
","abstract_html":"<p>The practice of teaching takes on renewed significance in today’s changing educational landscape. In the quest for transformative teaching and learning, there are both familiar and unfamiliar paths to be traversed. While significant contributions are being made by culturally responsive pedagogies, less is understood about the inner life of teachers as they navigate the outer systems of their practice. To address this area of research opportunity, the author used the conceptual framework of humanizing pedagogy and deep pedagogy to explore the inner and outer landscapes of teacher practice. As a method of inquiry, educational criticism afforded a qualitative approach for the study of teachers as they navigate the systems of teaching and learning towards personal and educational transformation. Pedagogical signatures, classroom ecologies, and deep wonder were some of the enduring outcomes resulting from the study. The author argues that humanizing the educational experience resides in a teacher’s ability to reimagine teaching and learning as heart-mind-spirit work. As an implication from the study, the author suggests that imagination and critical consciousness work dialectically to create an ethically informed and spiritually infused third space in which curriculum, teaching, and learning transcend the educational flatland and become highly dynamic, generative, and relational in the formation and transformation of teacher practice.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Quenzer, Barth A."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Paul Michalec","P. Bruce Uhrmacher","Brette Garner","Bin Ramke"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2023,"date_issued":"2023-08-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2023-08-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:01:39Z","subjects":["Contemplation","Educational transformation","Spirituality","Teacher practice","Teaching and learning","Visual arts","Art Education","Curriculum and Instruction","Education","Social and Philosophical Foundations of Education"],"languages":["English (eng)"],"rights":["Copyright is held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
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