Reforming how we prepare teachers to teach literacy: Why? What? How?

Authors

Brian Cambourne, University of WollongongFollow
Julie Kiggins, University of WollongongFollow

RIS ID

73655

Publication Details

Cambourne, B. & Kiggins, J. (2013). Reforming how we prepare teachers to teach literacy: Why? What? How?. In K. Hall, T. Cremin, B. Comber & L. C. Moll (Eds.), International handbook of research on children's literacy, learning and culture (pp. 440-455). Chichester, United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell.

Abstract

This chapter is about reforming the preparation of pre-service teachers to teach literacy. It addresses three specific reform questions: Why reform how we prepare teachers to teach literacy? What aspects of this preparation need reform? How can such reforms be implemented? In the process of addressing these questions we explore the implications of paradigmatic change to traditional ways of organizing, delivering, and assessing professional knowledge in a typical higher education setting. We draw on a regional Australian university's ten year experiment to reform its pre-service program to inform this exploration.