Teacher education and cultural imagination
Subtitle: autobiography, conversation, and narrative
By: by Susan Florio-Ruane with the assistance of Julie deTar
Contributors: DeTar, Julie
Publisher: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates
Published: 2001
Place of publication: Mahwah, NJ
Language: eng
Number of pages: 182
Subjects: Education -- United States -- Biographical methods; Teachers -- Training of -- United States; Multicultural education -- United States; Group reading -- United States
Description: Making culture a more central concept in the texts and contexts of teacher education is the focus of this book. It is an account of the author's investigation of teacher book club discussions of ethnic literature, specifically ethnic autobiography--as a genre from which teachers might learn about culture, literacy, and education in their own and others' lives, and as a form of conversation and literature-based work that might be sustainable and foster teachers' comprehension and critical thinking. Dr. Florio-Ruane's role in the book clubs merged participation and inquiry. For this reason, she blends personal narrative with analysis and description of ways she and the book club participants explored culture in the stories they told one another and in their responses to published autobiographies. She posits that autobiography and conversation may be useful for teachers not only in constructing their own learning about culture, but also, by doing so, in participating in the transformation of learning within the teaching profession.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 156-170) and indexes