7: LITERACY TEACHER PREPARATION: USING THE ABC’s MODEL TO FACILITATE TEACHER REFLECTION

This chapter examines how the ABC’s of cultural understanding and communication impacted teacher candidates’ knowledge of culture and pedagogy. Participants were 10 preservice teachers who took a graduate-level literacy course. Data collection lasted for one semester. The major sources of data were biographical information about the candidates, their interviews of cultural others, and their cross‑cultural and critical analysis of the interactions. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings indicated that the ABC’s project helped teacher candidates make theory‑to-practice connections and increased their reflective ability and cultural awareness. In addition, they developed a more humanistic perspective of diversity, culture, and equity. This project suggests the need for teacher candidates to engage in activities that help them reflect on, analyze, and shift beliefs and assumptions about cultural others and ultimately their pedagogical practice.