Using self-study as a methodology for dental educators' professional inquiry

Dental educators play crucial roles in dental education and in the functioning of dental schools. Whilst it is recognised that dental educators need more than relevant disciplinary expertise and that scholarly development of dental educators is important, there is a lack of knowledge about ways research can be used to promote professional development. This article aims to showcase a research methodology for professional inquiry that is widely used in teacher education to promote the view that dental education is a professional practice.

Self-study methodology was employed by four dental educators to illuminate their theory-informed practice. We chose to frame the inquiry around technology and accumulated three forms of data: individual journaling, video-call discussions and Padlet/bricolage. Analysis of this data focused on how the learning was co-constructed by the group.

Five key elements of our self-study were constructed into narratives: understanding technology as a dental educator, being a learner and embodied scholarship, the (expanded) roles of a teacher in a technological environment, advancing our own professional identity as an educator, and possibilities and limits for self-study in the dental education context.

Professionalisation of dental educators is critical to sustainable dental education. By educators researching their own practice, research approaches such as self-study can perform a dual role of facilitating scholarly development and contributing to the generation of new knowledge about becoming and being a dental educator.