Preservice Teachers’ “Revelations and Connections”: Fostering Deep Conversations While Reading Multicultural Literature

• In Event: Multicultural/Multiethnic Education: Preservice Teachers and Teachers of Color

Abstract

Our purpose was to investigate the teaching strategies used by an experienced literacy teacher educator whose goal was to foster Culturally Relevant Pedagogy within the context of literacy instruction for 29 elementary preservice teachers. We utilized a case study design and thematic analysis, guided by Empathic Identity and Sociocultural theories. We included various data sources: two informal interviews with the professor of the course (3rd author), preservice teachers’ reader response journals, and other course documents. Preservice teachers recognized the benefits of participation in literature circles, reader response journals, and ways to talk about culture in the classroom. We identified three overarching themes from the data: revelations and connections, coming untangled, and teachers as change agents.

Authors

• Susan V. Bennett, The University of Mississippi

• AnnMarie Alberton Gunn, University of South Florida - St. Petersburg

• Cynthia B. Leung, University of South Florida St. Petersburg