PRE-SERVICE TO IN-SERVICE: A THREE-YEAR CASE STUDY OF PRIMARY LITERACY TEACHERS

Abstract

ABSTRACT The purpose of this emic collective case study was to investigate the transitions of three effective teachers of literacy from pre-service to in-service teaching. As their university supervisor, I selected these students out of a group of pre-service teachers assigned to me for supervision during their eight-week student teaching requirement, based upon a number of criteria. Among the criteria was their demonstrated skill at teaching literacy to their students according to best practice in their assigned classrooms. This was demonstrated during my formal observations of them, required by the School of Education at State University (a pseudonym) for satisfactory completion of their student teaching. In addition, the three case study participants were also assigned to me for supervision the following semester for their 14-week internships. During this assignment, I continued to supervise and documents the practices evident in their teaching, retaining all artifacts associated with our professional meetings and conferences, as well as any extraneous communications. Upon their acceptance of my invitation to take part in the research, I began collecting all documents and artifacts, along with field notes that I acquired as their university supervisor. I held interviews with them regularly, and encouraged their open communication and dialogue regarding their experiences. I was interested in documenting the characteristics of their individual transitions from student teaching to internship, to their first-year as in-service teachers, and then to their second year as in-service teachers, as evidenced in the data obtained. Each of the participants has experienced marked successes, as well as significant challenges, in their efforts to teach literacy according to best practice to their students, despite a variety of assessment-related issues they have encountered. My research questions posed were the following: How do novice teachers handle the disparities between best practice taught in teacher preparation and the realities of the classroom as they transition from pre-service to in-service? What can universities do to assist future teachers of literacy as they transition from pre-service to in-service? Within the vast amounts of data collected from the participants over a three-year period, unique and important insights have emerged to inform these questions. The participants' demonstrated growth, development, and expertise in literacy instruction provide important information regarding the nature of novice teachers' entry into the workforce in an assessment-driven school reform climate. The research discussed in the literature review aligns with the goals for best practice in literacy instruction, and the strategies demonstrated within that practice which the participants have exemplified in their classrooms. In addition, the participants' recommendations for support mechanisms for future literacy teachers are further substantiated in data reported. This study contributes to literacy research, largely because the information is presented from the perspective of novice teachers. The participants' clearly convey the scope of the knowledge they have acquired in their coursework and field experiences, the teaching and processes that they most value, as well as their insightful recommendations for equipping novice teachers with what they need most to survive their first two years in the workforce. The participants reveal their important findings that the teaching environments and the concurrent demands placed upon them have held a number of surprises.