Self Portrait – An Account of the Artist as Educator

This paper is concerned primarily with the issue of the relationship between personal and professional identity with reference to the role of artist and that of teacher. In particular, the development of artistic identity and how it might inform professional identity and pedagogy is examined. This issue is considered through a self-portrait - an autobiographical, largely episodic, account of the authorʹs formative years. Some consideration is given to exploring the value of self-portraiture (and similar approaches) as a method for eliciting data about identity, including social identity. An area identified as an issue for future research in education was the relationship between social class, art, and identity.