Preservice Teachers Taking Action: Enacting Teaching Practices and Pedagogical Theories in an After-School Literacy Club Field Experience

Abstract

This article examines the teaching practices and pedagogical theories preservice teachers (PSTs) enacted in a newly designed after-school literacy club field placement. We draw from sociocultural and activity theories to analyze data collected in the qualitative study that examined the following research questions: (1) What teaching practices do PSTs enact in an after-school literacy club field placement? (2) What pedagogical theories guide their choices about which teaching practices they enact in the after-school literacy club field placement? and (3) In what ways does this field placement afford and constrain PSTs’ appropriation of these practices and theories? Findings consider three ways that the field experience afforded—and at times also constrained—the opportunities made available for PSTs to enact teaching practices and pedagogical theories related to their learning in coursework including learning from and with fellow PSTs, developing ownership over curriculum, and making connections to university coursework.