This article maps out key features of self‐study in teaching and teacher development, particularly in relation to social action. As teacher educator‐researchers, we have become increasingly interested in how self‐reflexivity in teaching and teacher development can illuminate social and educational challenges that have resonance beyond the self and can inspire context‐specific, practitioner‐led responses to those challenges. Drawing on creative and participatory approaches to engaging in self‐study, we highlight some of the ways in which the personal interconnects with the social and in so doing contributes to taking action.

In this I analyzed self-study research in Teaching and Teacher Education (TATE). An introduction to self-study of professional practice as scholarship and methodology is followed by descriptions of 10 selected articles. Next is a presentation of 10 self-study characteristics identified in the articles. The final analysis shows three broad self-study research contributions: a) teachers and teacher educators advance the education field by becoming accomplished practitioner-researchers, b) a self-directed professional learning paradigm is advantageous for teachers’ and teacher educators’ professional development, and c) when teachers and teacher educators commit to their professional growth in supportive environments, they benefit themselves and others.