The Use of Coached Rehearsals to Approximate, Represent, and Decompose Literacy Teaching in Diverse Settings

• In Event: 68.060 - Roundtable Session 29
  In Roundtable Session: 68.060-16 - Enacting Literacy: Fostering Disciplinary Instructional Practices and Equity-Centered Dispositions in Preservice Teachers

Abstract

1. Rationale/Objective
Many teacher educators across content areas are experimenting with rehearsal to create a space for the “deliberate practice of…routine elements as well as opportunities to respond in a principled way to the kinds of non-routine information that comes from students” (Kazemi, Franke, & Lampert, 2009, p. 5). Work has been done to define rehearsal and identify techniques and moves that teacher educators use to support candidates’ learning; however, there is a scarcity of research on this topic in literacy. This study is an initial attempt to learn more about the ways in which literacy teacher educators are using this purportedly powerful approach to working with teacher candidates within specific contexts.

2. Theoretical Perspectives
This qualitative study and the examined pedagogical approach are grounded in a socio-cultural theoretical framework. Rehearsals take place in socio-cultural context providing teacher candidates with instruction in their zone of proximal development (Vygotsky, 1987). This study investigates how two teacher educators in literacy methods courses use rehearsals to support candidates’ development. Both courses are situated inside practice-focused teacher education programs at large research institutions.

The study addresses the following questions:
• What moves do teacher educators employ when leading rehearsals?
• How does context influence teacher educators’ decisions about moves and content inside rehearsals?

3. Data/Methods
Data sources include ten rehearsal videos (five from each site), course artifacts, and stimulated response interviews with teacher educators. All rehearsal focused on supporting candidates to learn in, from, and for the enactment of interactive read alouds. Each rehearsal video was coded for moments in which the teacher educator paused the rehearsal and interjected. Teacher educators also participated in stimulated response interviews while watching videos of rehearsals from the data corpus to provide insight about decision-making and the instructional context. Lastly, candidate exit slip and survey data was coded. These multiple data sources allowed for triangulation of data to increase the validity of assertions.

4. Results/Significance
Findings show that both teacher educators utilized similar moves during rehearsals (e.g., highlighting as a way of providing candidates with replicable representations of practice among their peers’ performances). However, the frequency differed in response to contextual factors such as the use of a common lesson plan and/or text, the role of cooperating teachers, and the time between the rehearsal and enactment.
Knowing that effective preparation can increase teacher effectiveness, it is imperative that we are preparing teachers to provide strong literacy instruction to work towards improving student achievement. Rehearsals may be one pedagogical approach in teacher education programs to support candidates in understanding how to meet the needs of all students. This featured collaboration begins to examine how rehearsals may be used in the context of literacy and emphasizes the importance of considering the role of context in future studies of rehearsals.

Authors

• Kristine Marie Schutz, University of Illinois at Chicago

• Katie Danielson, New York University