Small Stories in Online Dialogue: A Resource for Building Professional Knowledge for Preservice Bilingual Teachers

• In Event: 65.079 - Roundtable Session 23
  In Roundtable Session: 65.079-21 - Using Technology to Support Teacher Development

Abstract

Building from the construct of “small stories” (Bamberg, 2006), we explored the ways that preservice bilingual teachers constructed their knowledge and explored their teaching self through the narrative accounts they made in classroom discussion of their personal and professional experiences. Qualitative and discourse analytic methods were used to analyze the online discussions the students co-produced as an activity in a teacher preparation course. Our results revealed the bridging roles of small stories that connected academic discourse and the teaching profession, diverse aspects of the self across time, and the personal and professional sides of being a bilingual teacher. Our results also highlighted the ways that small stories in dialogue with colleagues, particularly through an online medium, promoted collective reflection.

Authors

• Eunjeong Choi, The University of Texas - Austin

• Rachel E. Gaines, The University of Texas - Austin

• J. Hannah Park, The University of Texas - Austin

• Diane L. Schallert, The University of Texas - Austin

• Kyle M. Williams, The University of Texas at Austin

• Li-Tang Yu, University of Texas at Austin

• Jeonghyun Jonna Lee, The University of Texas

• Lina Mattar, The University of Texas - Austin