This article describes initial attempts by preservice and inservice teachers enrolled in university reading courses to devise questions that encourage students to read content texts strategically. Teachers at both levels tended to confuse questions that encourage the use of comprehension strategies during reading with questions that assess comprehension of what has been read. Despite understanding the aspects of cognition that promote good comprehension, at first these elementary and middle‐grade teachers appeared to revert to ingrained questioning models that largely ignored the cognitive components of comprehension.
The distinction between the design and functions of these questions must be clear to teachers if they are to be effective in helping students construct meaning from subject matter texts. University classes that provide modeling and practice in crafting and asking strategic questions support content teachers in this important skill.
The goal of this chapter was to explore the impact of a field-centric, grade-band, and subject-area specific field experience model that is linked to corresponding coursework on novice teacher candidates' conceptions of what it means to be a teacher. Grounded in the work of scholars such as Dewey, Piaget, and Vygotsky, this study explores three questions: What aspects of the Adopt-an-Apprentice program do teacher candidates view as beneficial to their understanding of the profession and their development as teachers? What benefits, if any, do classroom teachers derive from hosting teacher candidates in the Adopt-an-Apprentice program? What is the impact of grade band/subject-area field experiences on teacher candidates' conceptions of being a teacher? Using quantitative and qualitative surveys, the study illustrates how coursework linked to authentic application in clinical settings empowered novice teacher candidates to understand and engage content, pedagogy, and standards.
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