Now and then, in and out of the classroom: Teachers learning to teach through the experiences of their living curricula

•Narrative inquiry with three teachers from different teaching contexts.•Examines the relationships between teachers' living and teaching experiences.•Asserts that teachers' lives are central to the learning-to-teach process.•Implications for teacher education are considered.

How, when, and where do teachers learn to teach? Guided by this question, this article examines the relationships between teachers' living and teaching experiences. Through narrative inquiry, it stories “curricular currents” of three teachers from different teaching contexts, noting the continuity, interaction, and place of the experiences that comprise these currents. It argues that these teachers have learned to teach through their “living curricula,” across all times and places of their lives, not just classroom moments. It concludes by charging teacher education to attend closely to teachers' exploration and analysis of their lives' experiences, in and out of classrooms.