Abstract
Preservice teachers in educator preparation programs (EPPs) are rarely cognizant of programmatic structures outside their own EPP. This lack of awareness isolates preservice teachers within their own programs and university cultures. As teacher educators, the authors wondered: How might interacting with peers in other EPPs bolster our preservice teachers' disciplinary literacies, praxis, and cultural competency? How might cross-institutional virtual interaction expand preservice teachers' pre-professional networking opportunities? Virtual book clubs offer a structured way for preservice teachers to experience peer interaction across institutions and cultural contexts. These book clubs provide opportunities for preservice teachers to explore a diverse array of cultural, societal, and professional perspectives as they prepare to enter teaching as young professionals.
TopBackground
Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs) often use diverse children’s books as a primary tool to support and model culturally responsive instruction (Gay, 2002). While conversations about diverging issues can be challenging due to a lack of confidence or experience with certain topics (Hollie, 2017), recent research suggests that many teachers are beginning to embrace such discussions within the classroom (Goldberg, 2020). EPPs can help bolster the confidence required for such discussion by providing diverse books representative of the student population in tandem with active opportunities for preservice teachers to navigate challenging topics in the curriculum.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Japanese American Incarceration: A more accurate term referring to WWII-era policy of the U.S. government in which individuals of Japanese descent, including U.S. citizens, were incarcerated in camps; often synonymously called internment.
Children’s Literature: Picture books, trade books, or other non-chapter books intended for use with children in elementary grades.
Virtual Book Club: Dialogue-based book discussions utilizing synchronous or asynchronous virtual platforms. Enables book discussions across geographic regions and institutions of higher education.
Preservice Teacher: Student enrolled in an educator preparation program; pre-licensure.
Diverse Books: Books that recognize and represent all groups, including but not limited to LGBTQIA, Native/Indigenous, people of color, gender diversity, ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities, and disabilities (including but not limited to physical, sensory, cognitive, intellectual, or developmental disabilities, chronic conditions, and mental illnesses, including addiction, as well as social models of disability including disability created by barriers in the social environment due to lack of equal access, stereotyping, and other forms of marginalization (We Need Diverse Books, n.d.).
Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs): Programs for the pre-licensure education of PK-12 teachers, often housed in institutions of higher education.
Cross-Institutional Collaboration: Project that involves more than one institution of higher education.
Literature Circles: Instructional strategy often used in relation to children’s literature intended to build reading comprehension and engagement or motivation to read.