In this research, we present case studies of three Anglo American preservice teachers - Clara, Luke, & Varla - as they worked with children of color and/or poverty - Sam, Reggie, and Lucinda - over the course of a semester. In a university class entitled the Literacy/Social Studies Block, we asked the preservice teachers to look within to explore their own literary backgrounds in a reading-autobiography assignment. And we encouraged them to look about as they read and discussed literature with diverse children in the Child as Teacher Project. Here we argue that the combination of autobiographical accounts with reflective field experiences helps preservice teachers reconsider their life stories in reading in order to build bridges of literacy to and with children.
References
1.
AdaA.F. (1993) La piñata vacia (EscrivaV., illustrator). Compton, ca: Santillana.
2.
AguilarT.E.PohanC.A. (1996). Using a constructivist approach to challenge preservice teachers' thinking about diversity in education. In RíosF.A. (Ed.), Teacher thinking in cultural contexts (pp. 260–281). New York: State University of New York Press.
3.
AllingtonR.L. (1991). Children who find learning to read difficult: School responses to diversity. In HiebertE.H. (Ed.), Literacy for a diverse society: Perspectives, practices, and policies (pp. 237–252). New York: Teachers College Press.
4.
BlancoA. (1994). Angel's kite: La estrella de angels.Emeryville, ca: Children's Book Press.
5.
BrunerJ. (1987). Life as narrative. Social Research, 54, 11–32.
6.
CarterK.DoyleW. (1996). Personal narrative and life history in learning to teach. In SikulaJ.BetteryT.J.GuytonE. (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education (pp. 120–142). New York: Macmillan.
7.
CurtisC.P. (1995). The Watsons go to Birmingham — 1963.New York: Delacorte.
8.
DelpitL.D. (1988). The silenced dialogue: Power and pedagogy in educating other people's children. Harvard Educational Review, 58, 280–298.
9.
DorrosA. (1994). Abuela (KlevenE., illustrator). New York: Dutton.
10.
EncisoP. (1996). Why engagement in reading matters to Molly. Reading and Writing Quarterly: Overcoming Learning Difficulties, 12, 171–194.
11.
ForsterE.M. (1921). Howards End.New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
12.
GoodwinA.L. (1997). Historical and contemporary perspectives on multicultural teacher education: Past lessons, new directions. In KingJ.E.HollinsE.R.HaymanW.C. (Eds.), Preparing teachers for cultural diversity (pp. 5–22). New York: Teachers College Press.
13.
HarrisV.J. (1993). Teaching multicultural literature in grades k-8.Norwood, ma: Christopher Gordon.
14.
KirkD. (1995). Miss Spider's wedding.New York: Scholastic.
15.
MelnickS.L.ZeichnerK.M. (1997). Enhancing the capacity of teacher education institutions to address diversity issues. In KingJ.E.HollinsE.R.HaymanW.C. (Eds.), Preparing teachers for cultural diversity (pp. 23–39). New York: Teachers College Press.
16.
NietoS. (1992). Affirming diversity: The sociopolitical context of multicultural education.New York: Longman.
17.
NodelmanP. (1996). The pleasures of children's literature.New York: Longman.
18.
SleeterC.MontecinosC. (1999). Forging partnerships for multicultural teacher education. In MayS. (Ed.), Critical multiculturalism: Rethinking multicultural and antiracist education (pp. 113–137). Philadelphia: Falmer Press.
19.
SteigW. (1969). Sylvester and the magic pebble.New York: Simon & Schuster.
20.
TakakiR. (1995). A different mirror: A history of multicultural America.Boston: Little Brown.
21.
Van AllsburgC. (1981). Jumanji.Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
22.
Van AllsburgC. (1990). Just a dream.Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
23.
Van AllsburgC. (1992). The widow's broom.Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
24.
WeilD. K. (1998). Towards a critical multicultural literacy: Theory and practice for education for liberation.New York: Peter Lang.
25.
WillisA.I.HarrisV.J. (1997). Preparing preservice teachers to teach multicultural literature. In FloodJ.LappD.HeathS.B. (Eds.), A handbook for literacy educators: Research on teaching the communicative and visual arts (pp. 460–469). New York: Macmillan.
26.
WolfS.A.BallentineD.HillL. (1999). The right to write: Preservice teachers' evolving understandings of authenticity and aesthetic heat in multicultural literature. Research in the Teaching of English, 34 (1), 130–184.
27.
WolfS.A.HillL.BallentineD. (1999). Teaching on fissured ground: Preparing teachers for culturally conscious pedagogy. In ShanahanT.Rodriguez-BrownF. (Eds.), Forty-eight yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 423–436). Chicago: National Reading Conference.
28.
WolfS.A.MierasE.L.CareyA.A. (1996). What's after “What's that?”: Preservice teachers learning to ask literary questions. Journal of Literacy Research, 28, 459–497.
29.
YorkD.E. (1997). Preparing teachers for tomorrow's children: Cross-cultural training for teachers. In KingJ.E.HollinsE.R.HaymanW.C. (Eds.), Preparing teachers for cultural diversity (pp. 73–84). New York: Teachers College Press.
