Catching Up With Teachers: Statewide Exploration of Teachers' Beliefs About Language and Literacy Teaching

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

The studies in this symposium use state-level data to provide a large-scale view of teachers’ current beliefs about the teaching of language and literacies. Drawing on 90 interviews and over 2500 surveys of Pre-K-12th grade language and literacy teachers, we unpack trends in teachers’ conceptions of literacy, purposes for teaching, and language ideologies. We examine the impact of teachers’ knowledge and beliefs on instructional decisions, and we distinguish commonalities and differences across grade levels and school contexts. Findings reveal teachers torn between traditional approaches and new understandings of the evolving nature of language and literacy.

Sub Unit

• SIG-Writing and Literacies

Chairs

• Mike Metz, Univeristy of Missouri

• Heather Knight, University of Missouri - Columbia

Papers

• A Cross-Contextual Study of Pre-K–12th-Grade Teachers' Beliefs About Language and Language Teaching - Mike Metz, Univeristy of Missouri; Matthew Gordon, University of Missouri - Columbia

• Understanding Texts and Materials in Pre-K–12 Classrooms - Angie Zapata, University of Missouri; Candace Ross Kuby, University of Missouri - Columbia

• "With Attention Spans One TikTok Long...": Linkages Between Conceptions of Students and Pedagogical Content Knowledge - Robert Petrone, University of Missouri - Columbia; Heather Knight, University of Missouri - Columbia

Discussant

• Jennifer Rowsell, University of Bristol