Investigating the Practices of Literacy Teacher Educators

Investigating the Practices of Literacy Teacher Educators Doctor of Philosophy 2017 Belinda Longe Graduate Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning University of Toronto Abstract This research investigated the practices of six literacy teacher educators and explored the influences on their teaching practices in their literacy courses. This qualitative case study involved two interviews for each participant and classroom observations for some of the participants over a three-year period. Four main findings emerged from this research. First, participants’ vision for teaching, and their vision for teaching literacy was not static. The participants’ visions evolved over time and was influenced by their teaching and research experiences. Second, the participants emphasized continuous learning as an integral part of their vision, both for themselves and for their student teachers. They recognized that in their role as literacy teacher educators, a commitment to on-going learning was essential and fostering that commitment to life-long learning in their student teachers was equally important. Third, the participants had a range of pedagogical approaches that they implemented, although there were some approaches that were common across participants. Fourth, the participants focused on infusing components of balanced literacy into their literacy course and many drew on children’s and young adult literature as a springboard for teaching literacy concepts. The analysis of the data includes a discussion of the conceptual framework for the study and gives a brief overview of the interconnectedness of the concepts of social constructivism, vision for teaching literacy, and the elements of a pedagogy of teacher education. Implications for literacy teacher educators include developing literacy courses that aim to broaden student teachers’ notion of what counts as literacy. Other implications include encouraging literacy teacher educators to remain responsive and adaptive in their literacy teaching, and creating opportunities for literacy teacher educators to regularly review, participate, and conduct scholarly research in the field of literacy teacher education, which could inform and improve their practice.Ph.D