RR 89-7 Learning to teach writing: Untangling the tensions between theory and practice.
Abstract
This paper tracks the changes in beliefs and dispositions regarding the teaching of writing of a cohort group of prospective secondary teachers during their graduate year of teacher preparation. Changes in the prospective teachers' beliefs regarding the knowledge they need to teach and the ways in which learners who differ in race, social class, and writing skills benefit from different curriculum and instruction are documented with data collected in interviews and questionnaire responses. The final section of the paper contains observations designed to assist teacher educators in questioning the structure and content of programs which will successfully prepare teachers of writing for diverse populations.