Preservice Teachers' Conceptions About How Children's Literature May Be Culturally Sustaining for Their Students

• In Event: Honing the Critical Literacy Development of Students, Preservice Teachers, and Teacher Educators

Abstract

This study examines the degrees to which preservice teachers(PST)enrolled in a university-based teacher credential program conceptualize culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) (Paris, 2012) in an elementary literacy methods course with goals to prepare PSTs to serve diverse learners. The study asks, In what ways do PSTs conceive of texts as culturally sustaining to their students? This study focuses analysis on one assignment, the Multicultural Book Talk with Content Integration Map. Analysis informed the development of a continuum for assessing degrees of criticality reflected in PSTs’ conceptions that may be helpful for teacher educators to assess their own pedagogical practices as well as those of their students to better prepare PSTs to integrate CSP into their teaching.

Author

• Joanna W. Wong, California State University - Monterey Bay