Becoming a Teacher of Literacy: The struggle between authoritative discourses

Abstract

This study describes and analyzes the influence of an ideological conflict between a teacher educa- tion program and a school district upon one pre-service teacher’s emerging identity as a teacher of literacy. Using poststructural feminism as the theoretical framework and a single case study analy- sis, the study illustrates how the discourse of the school district’s scripted reading program and the discourse of the university’s comprehensive literacy positions Claire, the pre-service teacher. The data analysis demonstrates how being positioned between these two competing and authoritative discourses conflicts with her understanding of reading and reading instruction. Reflecting upon the data, the research becomes a self-study of the teacher educator/researchers. Four unresolved tensions seek to create spaces of resistance and change.

Reference

Legard Larson, M., & Kalmbach Phillips, D. (2005). Becoming a teacher of literacy: The struggle between authoritative discourses. Teaching Education, 16(4), 311-323.

Journal

Teaching Education

Analysis

Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?

Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?

Research Approach

Case study

Geographic Setting

western united states

Institutional Context

University based

Certification Level

Elementary

Programatic Focus

Literacy Education

Research Location Context

University-district partnership elementary after-school program

Preservice Participants

Graduate Students

Preservice Sample Size

Other Participant Data

Teacher Educators

Duration of Data Collection

5 months

Data Sources

Audiotaped and transcribed meetings
email correspondence
Observations
Reflective journals

Data Analysis Tools

coding (non-specific)

Researcher Positionality

Inside (studying their own practices)
Inside (studying their own programs)

Research Questions

How do authoritative discourses of a district's scripted reading programs that clash with university discourses of comprehensive literacy impact student teachers in an after school literacy program?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? No

How might teacher educators reframe practices to create spaces of resistance within teacher education?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Combination