Examining the Influences: Literacy Teacher Educators Who Use a Multiliteracies Approach

• In Event: Multiliteracies in the Lives of Teachers

Abstract

According to Dewey (1974) “[e]ducation, experience, and life are inextricably intertwined”. This study examined how early life experiences and other influences affected the practices of 7 literacy teacher educators (LTEs) who currently enact a multiliteracies approach. Early childhood experiences, mentors along their journey, personal and professional turning points, and developing notions of literacy were explored. Two findings (a) an innate love of language/literature, and (b) inspiring mentorship, were significant contributing factors to these literacy teacher educators adopting a multiliteracies approach. The participants for this study were a subset from a large-scale study entitled, Literacy Teacher Educators: Their Backgrounds, Visions, and Practices which examines the lives of teacher educators from four countries: Canada, the USA, England and Australia.

Authors

• Cathy Marie Miyata, University of Toronto

• Clare Kosnik, University of Toronto/OISE

• Pooja Dharamshi, University of Toronto - OISE