To Gratify a Good Teacher Who Knows How to Think: Narrative Construction That Supports Teacher Reading

• In Event: Teacher Thinking, Knowing, and Action

Abstract

That reading has pedagogical value for those who work with children is a near universally accepted norm. Yet, despite this general contention, teachers often do not read regularly and independently and this influences their access to new information. This paper seeks to address what I see as a disjuncture between the potential for enthusiastic reading with contemporary teachers’ lack of enthusiasm for pedagogical literature. To put forth a vision of how we might write for teachers, I diffract Rousseau’s thinking on narrative with data from surveys with contemporary teachers. I conclude with suggestions for supporting teachers with their reading.

Author

• Cara Elizabeth Furman, Hunter College - CUNY
  Presenting Author