This article examines student teachers' investigations of issues related to writing pedagogy, response, and evaluation in an English methods course, including their use of descriptive review of student writing (Carini, 2001) to analyze adolescents' work collaboratively. Beginning with an examination of prevailing understandings of…

Within the field of writing teacher education, scholars and practitioners agree that effective writing instructors (at both the P--12 and postsecondary levels) are not simply cognizant of composition pedagogies, rhetorical theories, and their students' unique learning needs. Effective writing instructors also regularly…

This article extends the conversation on English education as preparation for democratic participation. The author journeys through a cycle of action research, analyzing one classroom case study to improve her practice of curricular negotiation in a methods of teaching writing course.

This case reflects a yearlong project I, as the instructor of an Advanced Methods course, conducted with my students to help them plan and implement critical literacy units in their high school and middle school student teaching placements. To do so, I assigned student teachers to explore notions of critical literacy (including resistant reading,…

This article explores one element of collaborative practice: the integration of English language learner-focused instruction and discussion in a secondary English methods course. Drawing on the authors' expertise, they examine revisions made to a secondary English methods course to better address the academic and individual needs of diverse…

This article looks at a research partnership between a high school English teacher and a university teacher educator, focusing on the impact of their work of co-teaching two integrated courses in the university's teacher education program. Findings from a study conducted during their third year of working together were used to revise the course…

A critical reflection of the efficacy of my teaching and the pedagogies I embody is potentially important because under the continual threat of "No Child Left Behind" and some research that may devalue qualitative research, I want to support my students in their efforts, while offering them a well-rounded understanding of different pedagogies and…

This article considers the benefits and challenges of using English teacher candidates' videotaped discussions of literature as tools to facilitate authentic and engaging discussions of literature. More specifically, this article examines the use of teacher candidates' videotaped discussions in a secondary English methods course to expand…

Preservice teachers often enter English language arts teacher preparation courses with untapped fears of writing and teaching writing due to null or bad experiences as K-12 students. In this article, I follow two preservice elementary teachers through a semester long methods course and reveal how they developed positive, clear images of themselves…

In this article the authors stress the importance of using interactive Web 2.0 tools within methods courses and practicum sites by reflexively noting how and why these tools function to achieve certain rhetorical purposes and foster constructivist learning.

The coeditors of the special Summit issue of English Education provide the context for the "crucial moment" that prompted the Conference on English Education (CEE) to take up the task of rethinking issues related to the preparation and continuing professional development of English language arts teachers and teacher educators. The process of…

In this article, the authors try to extend the complex and provocative conversations at the Conference on English Education Summit. They argue on several critical programmatic issues, including the need for greater program coherence, the continuing dilemma of the gulf between schools and universities, and both the promise and the problems of…

Texts such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) contribute to the contexts in which one works because of the restrictions and sanctions they impose upon teachers and children. As others in this issue discuss in more detail, NCLB has a punitive edge that can replace teachers, decrease local school control, and change curriculum (L. Meyer, 2003). In this…

In this article, the author features the Family Literacy Center, a service-learning project at the University of Utah's English education program. For the author and her students, Family Literacy Center has become a place to investigate the role of teacher-student or mentor-student relationships in learning and literacy development. The goals of…

Although he may not have spoken quite as eloquently as the Bard of Avon, Ernie Page, the author's methods instructor at Penn State, once said that teaching English was less a subject and more a predicament. He was alluding to the many complexities and range of subject matter that constitute teaching the English language arts. In the 30 years since…