Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

8-2008

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Amos Hatch

Committee Members

Susan Groenke

Abstract

In this current political climate of No Child Left Behind, pressure to perform affects teachers and the choices they make in their classrooms. As Rothman, Slattery, Vranek, and Resnick (2002) contend, "As test-based accountability becomes more stringent, schools and teachers will match their curriculum to what is on the tests rather than to what the standards say ought to occur" (p. 29). Since high-stakes testing is the only tangible measurement of accountability, teachers have resorted to teaching to the test and employing direct instruction methods. As a result, few opportunities exist for preservice teachers to practice the facilitation of open-ended discussion about literature. Still fewer opportunities exist for teachers to take a critical stance toward literature instruction.Teachers who take such a stance in the discussion of literature highlight diversity and difference; call attention to the nature and role of literacy in our society; and focus on building students' awareness of how systems of meaning and power affect people and the lives they lead (Harste & Carey, 2003). Housed in a young adult literature course in 2005, the Web Pen Pals project was a telecollaborative partnership between prospective secondary teachers enrolled in the course and local middle school students. Both sets of students met six times over the semester to discuss young adult literature online. The online chat medium created a virtual classroom space that provided 1) access to adolescent students preservice English teachers might not otherwise have had and 2) a safe, low-risk context where preservice teachers could practice taking on a critical literacy stance--a stance that may not feel safe in other contexts (e.g. field experiences).The purpose of this qualitative collective case study was to explore what critical talk topics, if any, occurred and what processes encouraged and developed critical talk in the online discussions of literature between beginning English teachers and middle school students. Since I was interested in the characteristics of the preservice English teachers' discussions within the online space, and their perceptions of the experience, three participants comprised the sample for my study. The primary data source for the study consisted of eight chat transcripts (63 pages of data). Secondary data sources consisted of six interview transcripts (two per preservice teacher) and reflection logs kept by the three preservice teachers during the project. Findings suggested that only one of the three preservice teachers came close to achieving engaged, substantial critical talk; and the types of discourse moves used by the preservice teachers seemed to affect whether or not critical talk occurred.Findings also revealed that it appeared a relationship existed between the process of critical talk, as defined by Burbules's (1993) rules of dialogue, and the occurrence of critical talk: when preservice teachers adhered to Burbules's rules, critical talk seemed to occur. Interpretations based on the findings of this study included the following: 1) developing relationships with students and establishing a social presence may help teachers achieve critical talk; 2) beginning teachers need time and opportunity to explore and develop a critical stance toward literature; and 3) a CMC forum, on its own, does not ensure equitable participation in online discussion.

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