Connecting Theoretical Conceptions of Reading to Practice: A Longitudinal Study of Elementary School Teachers

This study followed a group of 12 individuals over a three-year period as they first participated in a preservice teacher education program in the Pacific Northwest, leading to K-8 teacher certification and a Masters in Teaching, and for the first two years of their teaching careers. Using a case study approach and the use of a new methodology called ?Teacher Storylines? (Beijaard, 1998), the researcher examined participants' beliefs about and practice in reading/language arts. Three case studies are presented, as well as summaries of the others, and cross-case analysis. The study found that teachers'funds of knowledge (professional, practical, personal) interact in complex ways to affect their classroom practice. In particular, professional knowledge from a coherent and cohesive teacher education program is influential in the ways new teachers teach. By the end of the second year of teaching, participants' professional knowledge and practical knowledge became intertwined, such that participants' had difficulty in acknowledging their respective influences.