This study examined the experiences of elementary education teacher candidates in a servicelearning literacy methods course in which they were placed in two public school settings-- one urban elementary school and one urban laboratory school. This was teacher candidates initial field experience in elementary classrooms. Teacher candidates explored…

This study examines the work of cooperating teachers (CTs) within a literacy leadership course to construct transgressive mentoring practices that work against the grain of what is typical in schools. Previous research on coaching preservice teachers has not focused on the work that inservice teachers do to provide mentoring towards transgressive…

This article describes findings across two separate teacher education studies that analyse pre-service and in-service teachers' explorations of literacy and diversity through literature discussion and peer interaction. Using the notion of "storylines" in positioning theory, the authors analyse particular storylines they construct within,…

We must provide preservice special educators with quality programs that are inclusive of both the knowledge and skill needed for delivering engaging and impactful literacy instruction. Successful teacher education programs not only engage preservice educators in developing their knowledge of practices but provide opportunities to practice and…

Teacher preparation programs have been under scrutiny for years. The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) (2010) identified a gap between the preparation of teachers and the needs of schools and consequently formed a Blue Ribbon Panel to closely examine and generate recommendations on ways institutions could improve…

This study explored how 26 preservice secondary content teachers perceived their experiences participating in and developing a Twitter-based professional learning network focused on disciplinary literacy. Participants completed blog reflections and anonymous online surveys to reflect on their experiences, which served as data for this study. A…

While literacy courses are common in preservice teacher education programs, many secondary teacher candidates struggle to the see the relevance of literacy to their professional work. By exploring literacy in relation to personal, professional, and disciplinary identities, teacher candidates may better be able to embrace literacy integration as an…

In Australia all initial teacher education (ITE) programmes are required to address the needs of students learning in and through English as an additional language (EAL) as a national priority area, including "effective teaching and learning strategies for teaching second language learners in the context of the mainstream classroom and the…

In this article, we examine three literacy autobiographies written by pre-service teachers. Narratives are seen as not just stories relating a set of facts, but rather a means by which individuals interpret their experience. Literacy autobiographies are a reflective and interpretive account of one's development as a literate being. Using the tools…

Decision-making is essential for the work of teaching. Preservice teachers must learn to leverage knowledge about young readers' strengths, needs, and interests in order to plan and teach guided reading lessons skillfully. However, limited research examines preservice teachers' decision-making based on what they know about individual children. In…

This article was written as an auto ethnography, which allowed for a complex and personal exploration of professional standards, teachers' professional identities, neoliberal reforms, and approaches to literacy and creativity. This article reflects on a practicum which involved teaching Romeo and Juliet to two year nine classes at an all boys'…

Within the context of an undergraduate literacy methods course, preservice teachers received opportunities to read engaging and meaningful text that challenged their thinking (McVee, Baldassarre, & Bailey, 2004) and respond to specific prompts through an online dialogue discussion and written reflective summaries. This article describes the…

This article reports the outcomes of the first 3 years of an ongoing participatory action research (PAR) project that brought together literacy and content-area teacher educators. The purpose of our collaboration was two-fold: (a) to develop shared understandings or theories related to literacy and the place of literacy instruction in content-area…

This case study mapped candidates' responses to a pre-service literacy course designed to relocate teacher candidates' literacy histories and beliefs from a personal to political frame with the intent of promoting critical reflection and complex understandings of literacy, teaching, and learning. As part of a broader qualitative case study…

In this article, the author investigates the experience of six preservice teachers who volunteered to work with English language learners (ELLs). For this project, the preservice teachers would meet with their students to conduct one-on-one interviews about their reading and writing, hold conferences with them, and share their own writing as well.…