Pre-Service Teachers’ Growth In Understandings of Best Practice Literacy Instruction Through Paired Course and Field Experience

Abstract

Illiteracy is on the rise in the United States, and the potential negative impact on today’s struggling reader is devastating. Now more than ever, preparing pre-service teachers to be effective teachers of literacy is crucial. This study examined the growth in understandings of best practice literacy of eleven pre-service teachers through paired course and field work. Results reveal that through paired course and field work, growth of best practice literacy instruction is shown by pre-service teachers’ enhanced abilities to define, assign importance, and relate to implications for student learning as well as develop efficacy around their use. Results of this research have an impact on teacher preparation programs and highlight the importance of engaging pre-service teachers in literacy experiences that are connected to the course and field to better prepare them to meet the challenges of ensuring all students grow to be literate individuals.

Reference

Lipp, J., & Helfrich, S. R. (2016). Pre-Service Teachers' Growth In Understandings of Best Practice Literacy Instruction Through Paired Course and Field Experience. Reading Horizons, 55 (2). Retrieved from http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/reading_horizons/vol55/iss2/4

Journal

Reading Horizons

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

Qualitiative
Survey

Geographic Setting

Ohio

Institutional Context

University based

Certification Level

Not stated

Programatic Focus

Literacy Education

Research Location Context

Reading methods

Preservice Participants

Graduate and undergraduate

Preservice Sample Size

Duration of Data Collection

Academic Semester

Data Sources

Likert style survey
open ended questions
Pre/Post survey
reflections

Data Analysis Tools

coding (emergent categories)
Likert Scale

Researcher Positionality

inside (staying their own students)

Research Questions

In what ways do pre-service teachers grow in their understandings and beliefs of best practice literacy instruction through unified course and field work?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes