It's Not Just about Teaching Kids to Read: Helping Preservice Teachers Acquire a Mindset for Teaching Children in Urban Communities

Abstract

This study looks at preservice teachers' attitudes toward children and teaching in an urban high-poverty community in relation to their involvement in two different literacy education experiences: one literacy course sequence addressed issues of cultural diversity with respect to this community, and the other did not explicitly address these issues. The study specifically examines preservice teachers' (a) attitudes toward children's literacy potential, (b) confidence in teaching children to read, and (c) interest in teaching in urban schools. The diversity-oriented literacy experience, combined with highly satisfying field placements, positively affected preservice teacher's confidence and interest in teaching children in this community. Further, these preservice teachers tended to recognize children's literacy potential, while those who took the more typical literacy courses tended to doubt these children's literacy abilities. They also exited the diversity-oriented literacy courses with an enriched sense of children's culture and home language, although their awareness of literacy as culturally situated practice remained superficial. Analysis of preservice teachers' cultural autobiographies provided evidence that they acquired many new understandings about race, class, culture, literacy, children, and teaching in the first literacy course. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for reforming preservice teacher curricula and forming stronger alliances with schools in high-poverty communities.Correspondence should be addressed to Dr. Althier Lazar, Department of Education, Saint Joseph's University, 5600 City Line Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19131. E-mail: alazar@sju.edu 411 412 LAZARWhat happens in classrooms is first and foremost about the personal and collective connections that exist among the individuals who inhabit those spaces. Consequently, teachers' beliefs and values, how these are communicated to students through teaching practices and behaviors, and their impact on the lives of students-these are the factors that make teaching so consequential in the lives of many people (Nieto, 1999, p. 130).

Assessing Our Students Assessing Their Students: Support and Impact of Preservice Teachers on P–5 Student Learning

“…Similarly, Mewborn (2001) and Dunphy (2010) noted that preservice teachers working with small groups in mathematics instruction contributed significantly to P-5 student's achievement. Downloaded by [Yale School of Medicine] at 13:00 25 July 2015 Stuart and Thurlow (2000) and Clark (2012) investigated the impact of preservice teachers on elementary mathematics students' achievement and attitudes; Lazar (2007) examined preservice teachers' attitudes toward children's literacy in high poverty urban schools. The findings from these studies suggested that preservice teachers' positive attitudes positively impacted the achievement and attitudes of the P-5 students.…”

A Digital Tool Grows (and Keeps Growing) From the Work of a Community of Writers

“…Research in teacher education contexts strongly suggests that when preservice teachers have meaningful experiences teaching and learning in classrooms, they begin to recognize how communities and literacies are strengths to be drawn on in the curriculum (e.g., Lazar, 2007;Mosley & Zoch, 2011). Our students may initiate their tutoring work with students labeled ''struggling'' but come to understand their work as supporting a writer in telling his or her stories.…”

A Journey Through Justice … Letting Go of the Power

“…One expectation is that teacher educators equip teachers and preservice teachers with the necessary tools to address issues of social justice and equity in their classrooms (Cochran-Smith, 2004;Marshall & Klein, 2009). Reading teacher educators (e.g., Lazar, 2007;Mosely, 2010;Dozier, Johnston, & Rogers, 2006) are responding to such expectations by developing courses and programs that help teachers ''analyze the relationship between language and power'' (Hadjioannou & Fu, 2007, p. 44) and construct knowledge about critical literacy so that their own instruction will address social injustices that are perpetrated through various information sources. In such courses, critical literacy is defined not only as a teaching method but also as a way of thinking that challenges issues of power, and promotes reflection, transformation, and action (McLaughlin & DeVoogd, 2004).…”