Growth Through Crisis: Preservice Teachers Learning To Enact Culturally Relevant Literacy Teaching

ABSTRACT

A critical mass of literacy scholars have re-defined what it means to prepare reading teachers toward approaches that foreground culture, critical inquiry, and multilingualism. An upsurge in research on critical approaches to prepare caring and conscious reading teachers has resulted, though fewer studies have examined the ways novice teachers worked through moments of crisis that often accompany anti-racist learning experiences. This study reports findings from a qualitative investigation of seven prospective teachers’ coursework during their participation in an elementary reading methods course framed around culturally relevant literacy teaching for teacher learning. Findings begin to document specific activities PSTs engaged in to productively struggle through crisis and suggest that preservice teachers can and should wrestle with the complexities of effective literacy teaching for African American and Hispanic readers in ways that lay the foundation for culturally relevant teaching. Implications for literacy teacher education and research are included.

KEYWORDS:

• Preservice teachers; teacher education; black studies pedagogy; culturally relevant teaching

Disclosure Statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Melanie M. Acosta

Melanie M. Acosta, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor of Education at Florida Atlantic University. She received her doctoral degree in 2013 from the University of Florida in Curriculum and Instruction. Her research is focused on African American pedagogical excellence as an emancipatory framework through which schooling can support the spiritual and material well-being of African descent communities. Her work also centers Black educators to illuminate the potential of Black intellectual traditions in transforming education and society.

Shaunté Duggins

Shaunté Duggins, Ph.D., is a Teacher Educator and Literacy Implementation Senior Manager at the University of Florida Lastinger Center for Learning. She completed her doctoral studies in Special Education with a focus on early literacy and teacher education. She collaboratively designs and facilitates professional development in the areas of early literacy and coaching with particular emphasis on racial equity in teaching and learning. Her research includes early literacy, teacher education, and professional development.