Teachers' Learning Through Culturally Relevant Literature: A Cross-Context Study of Teacher Education for English Learners

• In Event: 65.079 - Roundtable Session 23
  In Roundtable Session: 65.079-9 - Teacher Candidate Preparation in Teaching Diverse Literature

Abstract

This study examines the potential for using culturally relevant literature circles as a part of university-based teacher education praxis focused on English learners in U.S. schools. Using qualitative data from 48 teachers and teacher candidates across urban, suburban, and rural locales, we explore the ways in which the text Return to Sender, when used in collaborative learning communities, mediated understandings of ELs’ lives and realities in relation to classroom practice. While our overall findings indicate that culturally relevant literature for children and youth afforded possibilities for learning that may not have emerged with the use of traditional textbooks, they also reveal differences between contexts that have implications for use of such texts in the preparation of teachers of English learners.

Authors

• Amy Jennifer Heineke, Loyola University Chicago

• Megan Hopkins, University of Illinois at Chicago