From practice to critique: ELA teachers grappling with writing instruction in a third space

Purpose This study aims to share findings from the Critical English Educators Collaborative, a virtual community of practice for novice English Language Arts middle and secondary educators. Three teacher educators explore the ways in which they can support new teachers through the “two-worlds pitfall” (Feiman-Nemser and Buchmann, 1985) and revise teacher preparation to support social justice teaching. Design/methodology/approach Through qualitative inquiry, the authors analyze transcripts from monthly Zoom meetings in which 11 practicing teachers built a community to problem-solve issues in education. This particular paper focuses on answering the question: How do practicing middle and secondary ELA teachers connect teaching, reading and writing with equity-oriented pedagogies in their classrooms? Findings The findings indicate that novice ELA teachers need more support in the areas of disentangling writing process and product, negotiating diverse learning needs and interweaving critical pedagogy and mandated, standardized curriculum. Essentially, teacher preparation must evolve to support the changing needs of classroom teachers. Research limitations/implications This research has implications for revision of teacher education coursework in programs that support teachers entering diverse school settings and for the creation of opportunities to develop skills for student advocacy. More specifically, findings from this study suggest a need for more focus on the anti-racist writing workshop approach. Practical implications Novice teachers need thirdspaces to engage in communities of praxis and opportunities to problem-solve and learn from their peers. These spaces must be created to exist outside of teacher preparation, school buildings and professional organizations. Teacher education faculty can support teachers as they bridge the chasm between teacher preparation and the classroom in these capacities. Social implications They finished writing this paper on the heels of the November 2024 election cycle. In so many ways, they feel stuck in limbo as they wait out the remaining weeks until the inauguration. Who knows whether accredited teacher preparation programs will have federal support in the next part of this decade. All of this points to a more stringent need to support novice critical pedagogues in their queries about how to teach ELA in the foreseeable future. Originality/value Though the idea of supportive communities of practice is not original, their focus on supporting former preservice teachers into their initial teaching experience is novel.