A Radical Shift in Teacher Ed

This week, I had an idea. It happens sometimes. I am not arrogant enough to think this is an original idea nor have I done the research to be sure it is not already going on somewhere, but I do know that it is not commonplace in current teacher preparation programs, and I think it ought to be (or at least some version of it). I will share my idea at the end, but first, a story.

Polar Vortex and Punk

It all started Monday night, about an hour into class. If you live anywhere near Chicago, you know this was the beginning of our polar vortex; still, our class met (even the few snowed-in joined us via Google Hangout). I teach a middle school endorsement course — The Whole Child:Conceptions of a Healthy Young Adolescent. I include middle grade and young adult literature in every course I teach, so for this course, I included Celia Pérez’s The First Rule of Punk. After students met in book groups (and ate snacks), I asked a two questions: What did you like about the book? And if you didn’t like it, what did you appreciate in the story? After a few moments of hesitation, reading sentiments spilled: Just one more chapter turned into nine chapters. Such satisfaction in making quick progress in a book. I have so much in common with Malú.Joy.

I scanned the room noticing something like nescience (or it might have been a chill from the polar vortex). My satisfaction in choosing a well-received book soured as I realized that The First Rule of Punk was likely their first experience as an adult reading a middle grade book. Could it be?

Some of these teachers will be in the classroom in March, some a year from now. They will be teaching tweens, advocating literacy, and yet they are not active readers. Sure some are not getting endorsed to teach English Language Arts, but shouldn’t all middle grade teachers be aware of middle grade literature, be able to have a conversation with any student about books?

To be fair, I remember my teacher preparation program, and I know I was inundated with theory books, projects, and fieldwork (and a job). And so, I started thinking on my long drive home in Chiberia: How can we expect teachers to develop a classroom library, navigate their school or local library, promote and nurture students’ reading lives, and provide access to ethical representations of all people when teacher ed programs do not prioritize pre-service teachers’ reading lives? When should a teacher’s reading life begin? Is college interrupting reading lives with course work that minimizes the value of middle grade and young adult literature, classroom libraries, and choice reading in the education of our youth? Why am I obsessing over classroom libraries when my windshield keeps freezing over?

Representative Classroom Libraries Take Intention

In ” Building an Effective Classroom Library” (2009), Catapano, Fleming, & Elias write, “New teachers are eager to begin their careers with information learned from their teacher preparation programs. Too many times, the classroom library is a second thought to the establishment of classroom rules and the implementation of curriculum.” Researchers helped teachers (after their teacher ed program) develop their classroom libraries.

McQuillan and Au (2001) studied the effects of teen access to books and how much they would choose to read. They found that proximity to a variety of books increased reading. Anderson, Wilson, and Fielding (1988) showed that time spent reading books resulted in consistent reading achievement gains. In a large scale study of 350 schools, Neuman (1999) found book proximity and choice increased time spent reading by 60%. And my own survey of students about what has had the greatest impact on their reading this year, here are the results: 1) the classroom library and 2) my own reading life (being able to talk about the books I read, recommend books, and accept recommendations from students).

As great as achievement gains and increases in time spent reading are, reading is not just about the numbers. What students read is perhaps more important. Do the books have ethical representations? Do the books represent the lives of our students’ lives within and beyond the classroom? The NCTE Statement on Classroom Libraries (2017) states, “We support student access to classroom libraries that 1) offer a wide range of materials to appeal to and support the needs of students with different interests and abilities; 2) provide access to multiple resources that reflect diverse perspectives and social identities…” How will our teachers know what books to include in their libraries and how to match a book to a reader if they have not been reading? Filling a library with books from catalogs or lists from Facebook or Instagram may be a start, but unless the teacher is reading, too, they will not understand the experiences of being with teen characters, the writing style of authors, and the potential to make connections to other aspects of the curriculum.

Enter the Ideas

Teacher preparation programs focusing on high school tend to have one young adult literature course, which may be required and may be an elective. This would be just one semester and perhaps a dozen or so titles. Middle grade programs may include a children’s literature course, which may or may not include middle and young adult titles. Our program includes a multicultural literature course and a YA or graphic novel course, but this is only for Language Arts endorsement. Math, History, and Science have no literature requirement.

Alas, here is my idea. Actually, I have two.

1. Build Your Classroom Library Course: How much money are textbooks for a given course these days? Instead of buying textbooks, pre-service teachers would use their local and college library to reserve and read middle grade and/or young adult novels, meeting each week to do book talks and build book lists of ethical, inclusive representations of social identities. At the end of the course, they would spend their textbook money on trade books for their classroom library.
2. Let’s Read: A One Credit Course to Nurture Your Reading Life: Once a student declares an education major, they must register for this one-credit course every semester. The class meets each week to read for part of the class and talk about books the other part. The professor will give book talks as will the students. Each semester, students will add to their classroom library list so that by graduation, they have an annotated list of books and actual physical books to move into their first classroom (or cart — I have a book cart because I don’t have my own classroom). Imagine librarians and authors and bookstore owners hosting the weekly seminar. Imagine meetings in libraries and bookstores and local schools, visiting dynamic  classroom and school libraries. Imagine every teacher (every subject area and grade level) knows the landscape of middle and YA literature so well that they have inclusive and ethically representative books circulating all the time (not just a certain month of the year).

What ideas do you have? What approach has your teacher preparation program taken to nurture the reading lives of future teachers and the students they will teach?