Teacher candidates, because of their lack of experience, often display signs of apparent understanding which leads to professional practice and behaviors that are blind, impulsive and many times not appropriate. Through dialogue and reflection, the authors became concerned as to how to scaffold a richer learning opportunity that would lead toward…

The purpose of this article is to examine the authors' experiences while trying to enter and engage local communities in bottom-up literacies through participatory action research (PAR) toward the community's own collective self-development. In trying to enter five different communities, I have found several challenges and roadblocks such as…

How can teacher educators continue to ensure that literacy is placed in the forefront of the public domain? This author explores this question by first examining the narrow assumptions about reading and literacy that shaped the NCLB law. The author then argues that studies of literacy incorporating a sociocultural stance provide a different lens…

The passage of current educational legislation such as the "Individuals with Disabilities Education Act" (IDEA) and the more recent "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) Act has increased the desire for greater inclusion of students with disabilities in regular classrooms. Serving the need of all students in inclusive classrooms…

Numerous scholars have promoted "practitioner research" or "teacher-research" as a way of facilitating professional development for pre-service and in-service teachers, promoting change and reform in K-12 settings, and giving voice to teachers" personal and professional knowledge. In this article, the authors consider what…