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From Resistance to Advocacy for Math Literacy: One Teacher's Literacy Identity Transformation
Author(s) -
Spitler Ellen
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
journal of adolescent and adult literacy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.73
H-Index - 49
eISSN - 1936-2706
pISSN - 1081-3004
DOI - 10.1002/jaal.00037
Subject(s) - literacy , pedagogy , critical literacy , psychology , mathematics education , identity (music) , information literacy , resistance (ecology) , teacher education , ecology , physics , acoustics , biology
Secondary preservice teachers often articulate the belief that literacy instruction is irrelevant in their future content‐area classrooms. Resistance is not a new concern in literacy teacher education programs, but the longevity of this belief and the absence of content area literacy instruction in the majority of secondary classrooms are distressing realities. This article documents one math teacher's initial negative beliefs about literacy instruction and his teacher literacy identity transformation to openly embrace and advocate for literacy instruction. In order for beliefs to shift regarding content area literacy instruction in secondary social and cultural contexts, teacher educators must focus on the developing teacher literacy identities of the preservice teachers sitting in their classrooms; that is, their conscious and confident view of self as responsible for and in control of improving the literacy learning of self and the competency to enact engagements to guide the literacy learning of students.