Peer coaching as a promising practice for extending preservice teachers' learning about culturally sustaining pedagogies

Purpose This study examines how preservice teachers (PTs) understand, value and enact culturally sustaining pedagogy (CSP) within a field-based literacy methods course. Specifically, we investigate how peer coaching structures, such as co-planning, co-teaching and reflective feedback, shape PTs' critically oriented teaching practices. Design/methodology/approach This qualitative case study examined eight PTs enrolled in a field-based writing methods course at an urban elementary school. Data sources included weekly lesson plans, reflections, teaching philosophy statements, unit plans, questionnaires and observation field notes. Through iterative content analysis, open coding and theoretically informed categorization, the research team traced how PTs interpreted CSP, how they attempted to integrate asset-based principles into their instruction, and how peer coaching interactions mediated this learning. Findings Peer coaching both supported and complicated PTs' enactments of CSP. PTs demonstrated evolving understandings of CSP, drawing on course readings, classroom interactions and lived experiences to recognize how deficit narratives shape educational inequities. Many translated these insights into instructional decisions by incorporating students' cultural and linguistic resources, interests and identities into writing lessons. Others, however, continued to rely on familiar texts and comfortable curricular choices that limited opportunities for more expansive, culturally sustaining instruction. These tensions highlight the complexity of leveraging peer coaching as a scaffold for critically oriented teaching. Practical implications Findings suggest that peer coaching can be a powerful structure for supporting PTs' enactment of CSP when intentionally designed and facilitated. Teacher educators should provide clear frameworks, modeling and scaffolds to guide peer feedback and ensure it deepens rather than undermines CSP. Embedding critical coaching practices in field-based coursework may better prepare PTs to design equitable literacy instruction and navigate the complexities of diverse classroom contexts. Originality/value This study contributes to teacher education research by examining how peer coaching within a field-based literacy methods course shapes PTs' enactment of CSP. It highlights both the affordances and limitations of peer coaching, offering nuanced insights into how PTs navigate tensions between their commitment to teaching in culturally sustaining ways and classroom realities.