Becoming a literacy teacher : from teacher preparation through the first two years of literacy teaching / by Laurie Elizabeth Leslie.

Abstract

"Preparing teachers to teach literacy effectively is a lengthy and complex process. It begins long before students are accepted into preservice education programs and continues throughout their careers. This three-year longitudinal study investigated how elementary teachers implement literacy programs, the success/challenges they face in doing so, the strengths of their preservice preparation and inservice support and recommendations for improving preservice preparation and inservice support for literacy teaching. Year 1 participants included three literacy instructors teaching elementary language arts methods and 10 student teachers. Participants in Years 2 and 3 were literacy teachers (five in Year 2, four in Year 3) teaching grades ranging from Junior Kindergarten through Grade 6. The data indicated that preparation for teaching literacy needs to be expanded to target the more diverse range of scenarios in which novice literacy teachers find themselves versus the 'ideal, or 'assumed' scenarios, which may or may not exist. As well, the data suggested a need for Faculties of Education to support seamless learning by collaborating with school partners such that preservice in-class and in-field and in service teaching experiences are consistent. The frameworks put in place by Faculties of Education to support student teachers and associates during in-field placements, as well as the establishment and nurturing of partnerships, have potential to support seamless learning in and beyond the preservice year."--abstract.