Flowers, fruits, & fingers: Preservice teachers write about difficult topics for a child audience
Abstract
The article reports on a study of an initial assignment in a teacher preparation program which is oriented towards preparing culturally relevant pre-service teachers for urban settings. The study examined children's books written by the preservice teachers about an issue related to pluralism, activism, and/or social justice using constant comparative methodology. The demographics used in the study are said to demonstrate the diversity that typically exists within the teacher preparation program.
Reference
Williams, B., May, L. A., & Williams, R. F. (2012). Flowers, fruits, & fingers: Preservice teachers write about difficult topics for a child audience. Multicultural Education, 19(3), 27-33.
Journal
Multicultural 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
- Southeastern United States
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
- Post bachs (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
21
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Interviews
- Transcriptions
- University coursework assignment (e.g. writing/project done for a grade)
Data Analysis Tools
- Constant comparative analysis
- Inductive analysis
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
Research Questions
"How do preservice teachers in a program devoted to urban, multicultural education write about topics related to pluralism, activism, and social justice for a child audience?
Specifically, we were interested in which course topics the pre-service teachers selected for their writing and how they wrote for children once they selected a topic" (p. 27).
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes