Reading Rocks: Creating a Space for Preservice Teachers to Become Responsive Teachers

Abstract

Set in a yearlong, school-based tutoring program, designed as a community of practice, we use qualitative methodology to examine how 14 preservice teachers learned to become responsive teachers. We focus on one question: In what ways does participating in a yearlong, supervised tutoring program mediate preservice teachers' learning about responsive teaching? The preservice teachers described the ways they came to learn about their buddies and build caring relationships with them. They reported the importance of collaboration with their tutoring buddies, peers, families, and classroom teachers, and that through the yearlong tutoring experience, the preservice teachers gained confidence as teachers and a sense of efficacy as caring educators. This study is important because it uncovers how school-based tutoring programs, modeled as a community of practice, can provide opportunities for preservice teachers to grow professionally to become responsive educators.