A team of teacher education researchers conducted a qualitative study to explore how teacher candidates viewed the teacher's role in teaching students to write. Participants (N = 107) enrolled in writing-focused methods courses across four universities completed a reflective quick write near the end of the course. Since writing is a complex and…

Preservice teachers (PSTs) come to teacher education programs after many years as students in the K-12 school system--a system that is focused on standardized testing and inauthentic literacy practices. These experiences have shaped PSTs' personal literacy identities and their view of reading pedagogy, many times for the negative. In an effort to…

This article describes The Bare Book Project, a writing and research project that challenged pre-service and in-service teachers to create their own original pieces of children's literature, and use aspects of their personal writing as models for students in elementary school classrooms. Building on research regarding teacher modeling in writing…

Illiteracy is on the rise in the United States, and the potential negative impact on today's struggling reader is devastating. Now more than ever, preparing pre-service teachers to be effective teachers of literacy is crucial. This study examined the growth in understandings of best practice literacy of eleven pre-service teachers through paired…

Writing circles are "small groups... meeting regularly to share drafts, choose common writing topics, practice positive response, and in general, help each other become better writers" (Vopat, 2009, p. 6). In this exploratory study, writing circles were employed with elementary teacher candidates in hopes of enhancing their perceptions…

Reports on a team teaching approach to a college methods course in reading. (RB)

Presents a model for an affective component in methods courses on content area reading. Notes that the goal of the component is to help teachers develop an understanding of their current beliefs, feelings, and behaviors related to reading acquisition to better accept and use content area reading instruction. Gives special emphasis to the…

Offers reflections of three professors of literacy education regarding their varied field experiences with preservice teachers enrolled in their reading/language arts methods courses. Describes each field experience and discusses its impact on classroom teachers, elementary students, college students, and college professors. Offers some general…

Examines the use of literacy portfolios in education methods courses at University of Wisconsin-La Crosse through the inclusion of an external reviewer in the evaluation process. States that students construct a portfolio as a culminating project which reflects the learning they acquire in on-campus and field-site work. Finds that including a…

Investigates whether a reading methods course and/or student teaching can influence an individual's conceptual framework of reading. Finds some effect on changing subjects' perspectives about teaching reading, but also finds (in a subsequent study) that neither the reading methodology course nor student teaching had a statistically significant…

Surveys elementary reading educators to discover their preferred theoretical perspective and the instructional strategies used by them to teach reading methods courses. Finds that reading faculty who reported a whole-language preference also reported using more teaching strategies that increased learner involvement. (SR)

Describes the study of a site-based, 6-credit hour, integrated course in reading and language arts methods designed to tie theory and practice for university students in a Professional Development School (PDS). Demonstrates that the collaboratively taught course had a positive impact upon involved teachers, university students, children in the…

Proposes a new approach to reading education that encourages active student participation. Offers three advantages and three potential criticisms of the case method approach, as well as advice on using this approach in undergraduate and graduate courses. (MG)

What can we realistically expect teacher educators to do with technology, given the contexts in which they find themselves, the skills that they bring to their contexts, and the changes that they would need to make? We attempt to answer this question through three self-studies as we integrated technology into methods courses and student teaching…