Challenging the cinematic construction of ‘literacy’ with preservice teachers
Abstract
As a practicum supervisor in the teacher education program at UW-Madison, I designed many projects and activities around “school films”. I define a “school film” as a film that in some way, even incidentally, is about an educator or a student. Some well-known school films are Dead Poets Society, Stand and Deliver, and To Sir, With Love. Some lesser-known ones are Waterland, Welcome to the Doll House, Small Change, and Maedchen in Uniform. In this article, I discuss a project that involved taking up the film Teachers (1984) for the purpose of problematizing practicum students’ traditional, “autonomous” views of literacy. The project’s goal was to introduce students to a “Discourses” orientation toward literacy through a combination of “reading” both print and film texts, writing reactions to these texts, and discussing these reactions and the texts during seminars.
Reference
Trier, J (2001). Challenging the cinematic construction of 'literacy' with preservice teachers, Teaching Education, 12(3), 301-314.
Journal
Teaching Education
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
- midwest
- Midwestern University
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
Preservice Sample Size
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- assignments
- Classroom Discussion
Data Analysis Tools
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
Research Questions
How can you "do critical literacy" with preservice teachers?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? No