Reflective inquiry and pre-service teachers’ conceptions of content area literacies
Abstract
The authors report on the results of a reflective inquiry project implemented during the first five weeks of a 15-week course on content literacy methods for secondary pre-service teachers. The goal of the project was to disrupt taken for granted and commonplace assumptions about literacy processes, particularly in relationship to professional and ethical responsibilities to educate all students. A description and analysis of Literacy History Project (LHP) components provides the basis for addressing the resistance teacher candidates often express with respect to the relevancy of the content literacy methods course for their own practice as future middle and high school teachers. Through a reflective examination of their prior experiences and present day practices, the authors found that pre-service teachers participating in the LHP gained insights into their own literate identities, made connections between their literate practices and the those of adolescent literacy learners, and demonstrated more complex understandings of the content literacy methods course content as it relates to the literacy development of their future students.
Reference
Estrada, K., & Grady, K. (2011). Reflective inquiry and pre-service teachers’ conceptions of content area literacies. Reflective Practice, 12(6), 749-762.
Journal
Reflective Practice
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
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
- Post bachs (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- 2D/3D models
- Document Analysis
Data Analysis Tools
- Document analysis
- Multi-modal text analysis
Researcher Positionality
- Inside (studying their own programs)
Research Questions
"...what we have learned from our students as a result of their participation in the LHP over the past five years of its development and implementation in our content literacy methods courses."
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
"The goal of the project is to have candidates describe and reflect upon their own literate identity as a means for deepening and complicating their unquestioned assumptions about literacy."
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Unknown