This study critically and creatively appraises the pedagogical complexities of being an
outsider teacher within a New Religious Movement. There are two sections in this study:
a critical exegesis (42%) and an original fictionalised section (58%). The latter, called an
ethnovella, depicts a first-person account of Anna, a conflicted teacher, who relates her
negotiations of the educational situations that arose during her work within a closed rural
community. In both the ethnovella and exegesis, key areas of difference and ties between
the outsider teacher and students of the closed community are highlighted, and
pedagogical strategies for adapting to a strictly codified environment are investigated.
The purpose of this work is to expand scholarly knowledge in order to achieve three
major outcomes: to better inform and prepare educators faced with similar scenarios; to
provide a new Australian study which can be used comparatively and reflectively by
education researchers; and to challenge the media-driven stigma associated with sects as
dangerous “cults” rather than longstanding religious communities.
The ethnovella portion of the study methodologically adopts the Creative Analytical
Practice approach outlined by Laurel Richardson (2000) and justifies the juxtaposition of
the creative with the analytical. The exegesis also critically positions one New Religious
Movement (NRM) among the others that have received scholarly attention, and offers
critique of studies that lack direct interaction or extend existing polemic. It is this aspect
of the work that makes it a fresh and valuable contribution to the fields of sociology and
education, where knowledge about NRMs and education is dated and limited.