Getting into the Zone: Cases of Student-Centered Multicultural Literacy Teacher Education

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to report our preliminary work on student-centered teacher preparation to promote school success among culturally and linguistically diverse learners. The authors believe that teacher education programs need to be very purposeful in their approach to multicultural literacy teacher education. Drawing upon Vygotskian perspective on learning, the authors chose two cases from the beginning of their teacher education program and during student teaching, which often marks the end of teacher education program. The authors explain the potential of a student-centered approach they experienced and its implications for teacher education programs.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Youb Kim

Youb Kim is an associate professor in Reading in the School of Teacher Education at the University of Northern Colorado. Her research interests include teacher ownership of quality literacy teaching, and effective reading and writing instruction and assessment that promote English language learners’ successful language and literacy learning in school and community contexts.

Jennifer D. Turner

Jennifer D. Turner is an associate professor in reading education in the Department of Teaching and Learning, Policy and Leadership at the University of Maryland. Her research interests include preparing literacy teachers for diversity, culturally responsive pedagogy for African American students, and diverse children’s career dream drawings as representations of future literacies, work, and identities.

Pamela A. Mason

Pamela A. Mason is director of the Language and Literacy master’s program and the Jeanne Chall Reading Lab and a lecturer on education at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her professional and research interests encompass the effects of text structure on comprehension, the interaction of text complexity and background knowledge, the interaction of literacy learning, culture, and multilingualism, and school-wide literacy program implementation and evaluation.