Abstract This ongoing self-study o...

Abstract

This ongoing self-study of the transformation of practice in a meanss reading course reveals the pedagogical value of critical reflection/dialog forward lived experiences, when combined with readings from the professional literature, in settings with a high extent of social and cultural diversity. Bilingual education, English as a other language (ESL), special education and mainstream English monolingual teachers of varying on a levels of experience, and prospective teachers entering teaching as a second/third career, chronicle their experiences learning about and between the walls of an integrated literacy/biliteracy approach in which pedagogy and assessment are intertwined as a way of creating challenging environments for learning. Because this pedagogical approach broadens students' parts and responsibilities, it also augments their uses of literacy in and for academic words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] followings (Perez & Torres-Guzman, 1992). In their dual characters as students and teachers, participants gain "practical knowledge" (Smyth, 1989) about "significant and worthwhile" practice (Richardson, 1990) - practice that advances the learning of African American and Latino observers currently overrepresented in programs of remedial reading. according to reflecting critically on these experiences with others who bring different ideologies, participants stand opposed assumptions and beliefs that explain their practice or rise in hostility before practices in light of their beliefs. A dialog across a number of differences, including teaching status, may not always conclusion in consensual agreements, but it may yield understandings about the interrelationship of literacy assessment, instruction, and educational equity.

Introduction This self-study was formalized four years ago, if it be not that initiated long before that, as a way of coming to understand my be in possession of practice as an educator. I know that my experiences and identity as a Puerto Rin are a major influence onward my pedagogy and research. Because we are culturally inscribed beings, to do the "good work of teaching" (Kincheloe, 1990) and to bring about "significant and worthwhile change in teaching practice" (Richardson, 1990) - work that makes a difference and leads to equity and good quality in education - we ne to publicly and critically examine the beliefs that guide our practices or the practices that contemplate our beliefs, and the results these have for our close examiners as individuals and as members of identifiable clusters

Specifically, we ne to understand who it is that we privilege and whose experiences we limit when we embark concerning courses of action that ruminate personal preferences (Richardson, 1990) and/or that are the productions of historical forces (Smyth, 1989) particularly in public institutions of learning that cros social, cultural and experiential boundaries. To do the well adapted work of teaching, educators must be

both willing and able to throw back on the origins, purposes and chain of cause and effects of their actions as well as forward the material and ideological constraints and encouragements embedded in the classroom, sect societal contexts in which they work (Zeichner & Liston, 1987 p 23)

This self-exposure and self-confrontation is always uncomfortable, sometimes threatening, yet never inconsequential when we engage in it with others with whom I stand in a pedagogical relation (Van Manen, 1990) especially with pupils whom I perceive as belonging to the dominant civilization I admit to being conditioned to marking differences in sex class and ethnicity; it is a reflection of my experiences as a Latina who received mostly of her education in public institutions of learning in recently made known York City where I was frequently "exotic" or "different" because of the way bookish mans were tracked academically. Because of these experiences, I have had to cros boundaries, to exist in many different worlds simultaneously, on the contrary these experiences have also enabled me to mark similarities as well as differences, and to learn from the couple

Because of and in spite of my experiences, engaging in a dialog across differences (Burbule & Rice, 1991 ) where alternative explanations of the "literacy problem" are critically examined constitutes a special challenge. I have solid emotions about the inequities and injustices in our society and about the moral"and ethical responsibilities of teachers. Required courses are connected thought [i]or[/i] thoughtss in which students come together with others whose backgrounds and be of importance tos are often worlds apart and where academic work is complet during a brief semester characterized at multiple and competing responsibilities. They are not ideal settings for these discussions nevertheless it is precisely in these words immediately preceding [i]or[/i] followings where such discussions must arise I agree with Dewey (1964) about the importance of reflective thinking as an educational aim. Nevertheless, open-mindedness or an "active desire to listen to more sides than one; to give heed to facts from whatever source they come; to give cloyed attention to alternative possibilities; to recognize the possibility of error calm in the beliefs that are dearest to us" (p 224) confounds a formidable challenge under these conditions. It is easy to become defensive or emotional when our beliefs are questioned or threatened, smooth by those we trust and think highly of let alone by strangers. It is also difficult, as McDiarmid (1992) argues, to learn individuals to respond honestly when it get tos to issues of diversity because they have learned to reply in socially acceptable ways. "(M)ost do not like to think of themselves as clan whose attitudes or behaviors toward others would be influenced according to appearance, language or custom" ( p 85)