Class Exploration to a Campus Library Curriculum Center to Develop Book-Building Capacity for Teacher Candidates

The purpose of this pilot was to examine the effectiveness of the practice of providing opportunities for undergraduate elementary education teacher candidates to explore the campus library curriculum center as a group regularly during class time. During their visits, teacher candidates were guided in selecting and analyzing children’s literature for their future teaching. The research was focused on how these visits impacted teacher candidates’ understanding of children’s literature and literacy development. Data were collected through a survey administered at the conclusion of the course and responses were probed further during one-on-one interviews. Candidates described these visits as beneficial in exploring literature collaboratively and deepening their knowledge about curricular materials available to support and enhance their teaching. Teacher candidates were able to develop skills in choosing appropriate texts embodying targeted characteristics. They benefitted from the shared sociolinguistic experiences selecting and examining texts in the curriculum center with teacher and peer support. The results of this investigation suggest that these exploratory curriculum center visits may be a promising practice for teacher educators to include in children’s literature courses