THE USES OF ONLINE DISCUSSION SPACES IN A CHILDREN'S LITERATURE COURSE FOR PRE-SERVICE STUDENT TEACHERS

Research into in-service teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature indicates there is a powerfully symbiotic relationship between teachers’ perceptions and projections of themselves as readers and students’ engagement with reading as a pleasurable activity (Commeyras et al., 2003; Cremin et al 2014). Less is known about pre-service teachers’ knowledge of children’s literature or their attitudes towards reading and the Scottish context is unexplored in this regard. Inspired by and aligned with the work of Cremin et al (2008) with in-service primary teachers in England, this project investigated the personal reading habits of more than 150 student teachers over a two-year period by capturing snapshots of their knowledge of children’s literature and perceptions of themselves as not only readers, but as readers of children’s literature, at various stages of their initial teacher education. Framed by understandings of literacy practices as socially and locally constructed (Barton & Hamilton, 1998) and of literate identities as fluid, contingent and plural (Moje et al., 2009), this paper also outlines how project findings linked to knowledge of texts for children and reader identity have informed the teaching and learning of children’s literature at university level.

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Seeking Diversity in Children's Literature Utilized in Elementary Classrooms

Advances in Early Childhood and K-12 Education - Handbook of Research on Teaching Diverse Youth Literature to Pre-Service Professionals ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-7375-4.ch005 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 87-102

Author(s):

Mary-Kate Sableski ◽

Jackie Marshall Arnold

Keyword(s):

Children's Literature ◽

Student Teachers ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

Children’S Literature ◽

Elementary Classrooms ◽

Multiple Perspectives

Utilizing literature in classrooms that is representative of all provides opportunities for students to find within a book the truth of their own experiences. Literature provides the windows, mirrors, and sliding glass doors that afford opportunities to consider multiple perspectives and lenses in life. This chapter discusses different representations of diverse literature in classrooms and explores what educators might consider for their teaching and learning. Specifically, the chapter describes books student teachers identify using in their classrooms and considers how the books aligned with the different categories of a rubric used to assess them. Of the 113 books sampled, only nine books distinctly represented diversity. Implications of these findings and how they can support and challenge the children's literature utilized in today's classrooms are discussed.

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Ecocritical Engagement with Picturebook through Literature Conversations about Beatrice Alemagne’s On a Magical Do-Nothing Day

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12187653 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (18) ◽

pp. 7653

Author(s):

Nina Goga ◽

Maria Pujol-Valls

Keyword(s):

Content Analysis ◽

Children's Literature ◽

Student Teachers ◽

Children’S Literature ◽

Group Discussions ◽

Research Project ◽

Dialogic Teaching ◽

Teacher Researcher ◽

Representations Of Nature ◽

Ecological Wisdom

This article addresses the need for student teachers to experience how to engage ecocritically with children’s literature to be able to support and develop the sustainability competencies of their future students. In order to respond to this need, we designed a research project examining how Norwegian and Catalan student teachers express and negotiate their ideas about an Italian–French picturebook in a teacher–researcher designed ecocritical literature conversation (ELC). The collected material, consisting of students’ notes and sound recorded and transcribed group discussions, was analysed following the steps of content analysis with an emphasis on finding evidence of dialogic competencies and ecocritical competencies. Although the students did not explicitly integrate ecocritical terminology in their discussions, we found that when structured in line with ideas of dialogic teaching, ecocritical thinking, and literature didactics, literature conversations proved to be a useful tool for these students to critically engage with and negotiate about representations of nature and ecological wisdom from the selected picturebook.

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A tool to enhance the planning of children’s literature lessons for Setswana as Home Language

South African Journal of Childhood Education ◽

10.4102/sajce.v9i1.692 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Elma Marais ◽

Carisma Nel ◽

Dolly Dlavane

Keyword(s):

Children's Literature ◽

Student Teachers ◽

Qualitative Case Study ◽

Children’S Literature ◽

Home Language ◽

Learning Goals ◽

Case Study Design ◽

Questioning Techniques ◽

Faculties Of Education

Background: Universities, specifically faculties of education, have the responsibility to ensure that student teachers are introduced to the complexities involved in planning conceptually sound, coherent and cohesive lessons.Objectives: The objectives of this study were to determine how prepared students teachers are to plan children’s literature and develop a tool for use by teachers specializing in Setswana to support them when planning and preparing for children’s literature lessons.Methods: A Qualitative case study design was chosen for this study.Results: The results of this study indicated that primary pre-service teachers in South Africa do not receive cohesive and coherent as well as intensive preparation in the planning of lessons focusing on children’s literature. In addition, most primary pre-service teachers were not familiar with the titles, some genres and levelled questioning techniques used in planning children’s literature lessons. The results indicated that student teachers studying at a distance and specialising in Setswana as a Home Language were experiencing difficulties relating to the literature planning and preparation.Conclusion: Skillful planning, entails taking into account the knowledge and developmental level of learners, their specific social and cultural contexts, knowledge of subject matter and learning goals, as well as knowledge of teaching strategies and practices.

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