In this study, we examined the reflections of 71 preservice teachers as they tutored literacy in a predominantly Hispanic American, low-income school. The carefully structured, intensively supervised practicum for each preservice teacher combined situated learning with guided critical reflection in the context of a relationship with one elementary student. Working within the framework of caring and its influence on socially mediated learning, we also explored the nature of personal relationships. Judging from their reflections, the experience of working one-on-one with a student positively influenced preservice teachers' content and procedural knowledge and self-confidence as teachers. Although not all relationships were easy to establish, the tutors' strong emotional ties with students resulted in their increased personal satisfaction, learning about teaching, and feelings of responsibility for their child's learning. Further, as tutors got to know their students, many rejected deficit notions and labels like “slow learner,” “limited-English proficient,” and “at risk” and came to regard their students as unique, valuable individuals.
References
1.
AardemaV. (1981). Bringing the rain to Kapiti Plain.New York: Dial.
2.
AaronsohnE.CarterC.J.HowellM. (1995). Preparing monocultural teachers for a multicultural world: Attitudes toward inner-city schools. Equity and Excellence in Education, 28, 5–9.
3.
BerkL.E.WinslerA. (1995). Scaffolding children's learning: Vygotsky and early childhood education.Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
4.
BernsteinB.L. (1997). Learning relationships: Student experiences in teacher-student relationships. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago.
5.
BroaddusK. (2000). From peacemaker to advocate: A preservice teacher's case study of an emergent reader. Journal of Literacy Research, 32, 571–597.
6.
BroaddusK.BloodgoodJ.W. (1999). “We're supposed to already know how to teach reading”: Teacher change to support struggling readers. Reading Research Quarterly, 34, 426–451.
7.
CharlesC.M. (1999). Building classroom discipline (6th ed.). New York: Longman.
8.
ColeA.L.KnowlesJ.G. (1993). Teacher development partnership research: A focus on methods and issues. American Educational Research Association, 30, 473–495.
9.
CruzB.C. (1997). Walking the talk: The importance of community involvement in preservice urban teacher education. Urban Education, 32, 394–410.
10.
CubanL. (1989). The “at-risk” label and the problem of urban school reform. Phi Delta Kappan, 70, 780–784, 799–801.
11.
Delgado-GaitanC. (1993). Researching change and changing the researcher. Harvard Educational Review, 63, 389–411.
12.
DonovanC. (1999). Learning to teach reading/language arts: Considering the impact of experiences on understanding. In ShanahanT.Rodriguez-BrownF.V. (Eds.), Forty-eighth yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 451–465). Chicago: National Reading Conference.
13.
ErlandsonD.A.HarrisE.L.SkipperB.L.AllenS.D. (1993). Doing naturalistic inquiry.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
14.
EvansC.S. (1995). Theory and practice. Relationship of methods course work to field experience settings. Teacher Education and Practice, 11, 61–70.
15.
FloresB.CousinP.T.DíazE. (1991). Transforming deficit myths about learning, language, and culture. Language Arts, 68, 369–379.
16.
FoxM. (1993). Radical reflections: Passionate opinions on teaching, learning, and living.San Diego, CA: Harcourt Brace.
17.
FullerF.F.BownO.H.PeckR.F. (1967). Creating climates for growth.Austin, TX: The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health.
18.
GilliganC. (1982). In a different voice.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
19.
GoldsteinL. (1998). More than gentle smiles and warm hugs: Applying the ethic of care to early childhood education. Journal of Research in Childhood Education, 12, 244–261.
20.
GoldsteinL. (1999). The relational zone: The role of caring relationships in the co-construction of mind. American Educational Research Journal, 36, 647–673.
21.
GomezM. L. (1996). Prospective teachers' perspectives on teaching “other people's children.” In ZeichnerK.MelnickS.GomezM.L. (Eds.), Currents of reform in preservice teacher education (pp. 109–132). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
22.
HarryB.TorgusonC.KatkavichJ.GuerreroM. (1993). Crossing social class and cultural barriers in working with families. Teaching Exceptional Children, 26, 48–51.
23.
HoodS.ParkerL. (1994). Minority students informing the faculty: Implications for racial diversity and the future of teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 45, 164–171.
24.
JohnstonF.InvernizziM.JuelC. (1998). Book buddies.New York: Guilford.
25.
JohnstonP.H.AllingtonR.L. (1991). Remediation. In BarrR.KamilM. L.MosenthalP.PearsonP.D. (Eds.), Handbook of reading research (Vol. 2, pp. 984–1012). New York: Longman.
26.
KaganD. (1992). Professional growth among preservice and beginning teachers. Review of Educational Research, 62, 129–169.
27.
Ladson-BillingsG. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32, 465–491.
NoblitG.W. (1993). Power and caring. American Educational Research Journal, 30, 23–38.
33.
NoddingsN. (1984). Caring: A feminine approach to ethics and moral education.Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
34.
OakesJ. (1985). Keeping track: How schools structure inequality.New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
35.
OldfatherP.WestJ. (1994). Qualitative research as jazz. Educational Researcher, 23, 22–26.
36.
PajaresF. (1992). Teachers' beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62, 307–332.
37.
PinnellG.S. (1989). Reading recovery: Helping at risk children learn to read. Elementary School Journal, 90, 161–184.
38.
Renaissance Group. (1993). Educating the new American student.Cedar Fall, IA: Author.
39.
RichardsonV. (1996). The role of attitudes and beliefs in learning to teach. In SikulaJ.ButteryT.EGuyton (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education (2nd ed., pp. 102–119). New York: Macmillan.
40.
RogersD.WebbJ. (1991). The ethic of caring in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 42, 173–181.
41.
RogoffB. (1990). Apprenticeship in thinking: Cognitive development in social context.New York: Oxford University Press.
42.
RollerC. (1998). So … What's a tutor to do?Newark, DE: International Reading Association.
43.
RoskosK.WalkerB. (1994). Learning to teach problem readers: Instructional influences on preservice teachers' practical knowledge. Journal of Teacher Education, 45, 279–288.
44.
SchönD. (1982). The reflective practitioner.New York: Basic Books.
45.
ShulmanL. (1982). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational Researcher, 15, 4–21.
46.
SmithR.LStrahanD. (1997). Preservice middle level teachers' orientations toward teaching: Case studies in professional development. Teacher Education Quarterly, 24, 33–50.
47.
Spear-SwerlingL.SternbergR. J. (1996). Off track: When poor readers become “learning disabled.”Boulder, CO: Westview Press.
48.
StoneC.A. (1993). What is missing in the metaphor of scaffolding? In FromanE.A.MinickN.StoneC.A. (Eds.). Contexts for learning: Sociocultural dynamics in children's development (pp. 169–183). New York: Oxford University Press.
49.
StraussA.L.CorbinJ. (1990). Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques.Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
50.
ThompsonA. (1998). Not the color purple: Black feminist lessons for educational caring. Harvard Educational Review, 68, 522–554.
51.
ValenciaR. (1997). The evolution of deficit thinking: Educational Thought and Practice.New York: Taylor & Harris.
52.
VellutinoF.R.ScanlonD.MSipayE.SmallS.PrattA.ChenR.DencklaM. (1996). Cognitive profiles of difficult to remediate and easily remediated poor readers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 81, 601–638.
53.
VygotskyL.S. (1978). Mind and society.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
54.
WeinsteinC.S. (1990). Prospective elementary teachers' beliefs about teaching: Implications for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 6, 279–190.
55.
WertschJ.V. (1985). Vygotsky and the social formation of the mind.Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
56.
WideenM.Mayer-SmithJ.MoonB. (1998). A critical analysis of the research on learning to teach: Making the case for an ecological perspective on inequity. Review of Educational Research, 68, 130–178.
57.
WoodD.BrunerJ.S.RossG. (1976). The role of tutoring in problems solving. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 17, 89–100.
58.
WorthyJ.PraterS. (1998). Learning on the job: Preservice teachers' perceptions of participating in a literacy tutorial program. In Editors (Eds.), Forty-seventh yearbook of the National Reading Conference (pp. 485–495). Chicago: National Reading Conference.
59.
ZeichnerK. (1996). Teachers as reflective practitioners and the democratization of school reform. In ZeichnerK.MelnickS.GomezM. L. (Eds.), Currents of reform in preservice teacher education (pp. 199–214). New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
60.
ZeichnerK.TabachnickB.R.DensmoreK.AdlerS.EganS. (1982). The impact of students teaching experience on the development of teacher perspectives.Madison, WI: Wisconsin Center for Educational Research.
