(Re)imagining literacy and teacher preparation through collaboration
Abstract
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 classrooms, and (b) to make changes to our work with preservice teachers in order to prepare them to support adolescents’ content learning and discipline-specific literacy development. The findings reveal that the collaborative activities allowed participants to embrace broad notions of text and literacy that are useful in making sense of disciplinary aims and pedagogy. Furthermore, as teacher educators came to shift their thinking about literacy and disciplinary learning and teaching, their work with preservice teachers changed. Implications for future collaborative activities to promote content-area literacy are discussed.
Reference
Draper, R. J., Broomhead, P., Jensen, A. P., & Nokes, J. D. (2012). (Re)imagining literacy and teacher preparation through collaboration. Reading Psychology, 33(4), 367-398.
Journal
Reading Psychology
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
yes
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
- Participatory Action Research
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
Preservice Sample Size
0
Other Participant Data
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Document Analysis
- fieldnotes
- Interviews
- lesson plans
- Observation survey
- Observations
- Transcriptions
Data Analysis Tools
- Dialogic sense making
- Inductive analysis
Researcher Positionality
- Inside (studying their own practices)
- Inside (studying their own programs)
Research Questions
The researchers do not specifically state their research questions; however, they did provide their guiding questions and their overall purpose. I am including both here in order to understand the context of this study.
How can teacher educators adequately prepare prospective teachers to support the literacy development of adolescents? What does literacy instruction look like for content-area classrooms? How can literacy instruction remain true to the basic principles and values of the various disciplines? How can harmony be created between the work of the literacy teacher educator and content teacher educators? (p. 369)
Use of Participatory Action Research to "both generate theories relative to literacy and to improve our practice as teacher educators" (p. 374)
"The purpose of this article is to provide a detailed description of how the BYU LSG addressed a local problem (understanding literacy and the preparation of secondary teachers) through collaboration" (p. 379-380)
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Combination