The moral of the story: Agency in preservice teachers’ literacy stories
Abstract
This life history study focuses on a group of European-American, female preservice teachers and how they have learned literacy across contexts within their lives. Specifically, I examined these teachers’ “literacy stories” or stories they told about their own learning to read, write, and interpret texts, looking closely at how they used narrative to convey their agency as learners.
Reference
Johnson, A. S. (2008). The moral of the story: Agency in preservice teachers' literacy stories. English Education, 40(2), 122-144.
Journal
English 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
- life history
- Narrative Inquiry
- oral history
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
- Elementary school
- University
Preservice Participants
- Undergraduates (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
Data Analysis Tools
- Critical Discourse Analysis
- narrative analysis (Labov)
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
Research Questions
How do preservice teachers use narrative form to express how they have acted upon and within their social and cultural worlds?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
What other discursive and grammatical resources do preservice teachers draw on to express their agency?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes