The impact on final year pre-service secondary teachers of a unit in teaching literacy and numeracy across the curriculum

Abstract

Addressing literacy and numeracy as social practices in different teaching content areas create challenges for teachers and teacher education. Literacy and numeracy skills and understandings are generally addressed incidentally in teacher education courses and often overlooked by teachers in secondary schools. This paper reports on a study which examined the impact of a unit called ‘Curriculum Literacies’ in the final year of a Secondary Bachelor of Teaching/ Bachelor of Arts course. The unit developed students’ personal skills and understanding of literacy and numeracy and their application to teaching in particular discipline areas. Findings show the unit had positive effects on most students’ personal knowledge and pedagogy. However, these effects varied depending on content area and literacy was generally found to be more relevant and more easily integrated than numeracy. The results of this study confirm the value of such units in teaching degrees.

Reference

White, P., & Cranitch, M. (2010). The impact on final year pre-service secondary teachers of a unit in teaching literacy and numeracy across the curriculum. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 35(7). http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2010v35n7.5

Journal

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

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

Case study

Geographic Setting

Australia

Institutional Context

University based

Certification Level

Secondary

Programatic Focus

Economics
English
History
Mathematics
technology

Research Location Context

University

Preservice Participants

Undergraduates (university based program)

Preservice Sample Size

105

Duration of Data Collection

4 to 6 months

Data Sources

Focus group interviews
Observations
Questionnaire

Data Analysis Tools

Thematic analysis

Researcher Positionality

not stated

Research Questions

"How did final year secondary students perceive the usefulness of the unit Curriculum Literacies?"
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes

"What evidence is there that the unit impacted on their teaching practice when on a 10 week internship?"
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Unknown