“It Made Me See What Kind of Teacher I Want to Be:” Critical Literacy in a Pre-service Literacy Methods Course

ABSTRACT

Drawing on critical literacy as a theoretical framework, this paper explores how a children’s book writing assignment designed to center the experiences of underrepresented communities in children’s literature contributed to shifts in awareness among predominantly White teacher candidates. The study occurred at a large urban university in California and included 77 participants who all participated in a required Literacy Methods course in a teacher preparation program. Teacher candidate surveys and critical content analysis of candidate-authored books revealed that candidates: (1) selected topics to write about because they had a personal connection to the issue or because of its relevance to their students; (2) created books that evidenced their ability to apply traditional literacy concepts through a critical lens, (3) evidenced a deepened understanding of representation and diversity in children’s literature. Findings highlight the importance of critical literacy experiences in teacher preparation as a way to develop teacher candidates’ critical lens. Implications include the importance of integrating critical literacy with traditional literacy content – it is not something “extra;” the need for a critical perspective to be an integral part of Teacher Performance Expectations and standards; and the need for ongoing professional development for both teachers and teacher educators.

KEYWORDS:

• Pre-service teachers preparation
• literacy
• diverse texts

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Allison Briceño

Dr. Allison Briceño is an Associate Professor in the Department of Teacher Education at San José State University, where she coordinates the Multilingual and Multicultural Literacy Education MA program.

Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica

Dr. Claudia Rodriguez-Mojica is an Associate Professor at Santa Clara University. Her work focuses on the classroom instruction of bilingual children and the intersections among language, race, ethnicity, gender and culture as they relate to the teaching and learning of Latinx bilingual learners.