Debbie Pushor PhD » ECUR

Oracy and Literature (ECUR 273)

Debbie — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 20:17:48 +0000

ECUR 273 is an introductory language arts methodology course. In it, I provide students with opportunities to develop a vision of themselves as teachers which reflects and encompasses their knowledge of children as situated in the context of their families and communities. To this end, we talk about welcoming parents and building relationships with them, about engaging parents in their children’s schooling experiences, and we explore how classroom and student programming decisions can be made collaboratively with parents.

For one of their assignments, teacher candidates come to know an elementary school-aged student as an individual, as a reader and writer, and as a member of a family and community. As they spend time engaging with the student both in and out of school, they reflect on, discuss with colleagues and demonstrate to me how their beliefs and practices as a teacher (e.g. planning, classroom design, instructional strategies and activities, selection of literature) will be shaped by the contextual knowledge they gained of the child.

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Reading and Writing (ECUR 370)

Debbie — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:53:23 +0000

In ECUR 370, teacher candidates learn about teaching reading and writing at an elementary school level. As a synthesis assignment, I ask teacher candidates to write a parent newsletter for an imagined class in which they:

describe the organizational structures inherent in their language arts program and their rationale for them,
describe the role they will invite parents to play in regard to their children’s literacy development,
use language, tone, and newsletter formatting which reflects their beliefs about their relationship with parents and their specific knowledge of families and community.

For me, one of the most significant outcomes of the course is to help them see themselves as teachers who make programming decisions in relation with children, parents and families.

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Children’s Literature (ECUR 373)

Debbie — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:46:15 +0000

In ECUR 373, I work with teacher candidates to develop an understanding of children’s literature as a “mirror and a window” for children. I want teacher candidates to be conscious of selecting children’s books for their students in which all children can see themselves represented and thus can be valued and validated. I also want them to select literature through which all children can be introduced to individuals and families different from their own and thus learn to honor the richness of difference. Together we explore high quality children’s books which provide a rich range of diversity in aspects such as race, culture, gender, family structure, sexual orientation, age, ability, and religion.

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Community Education (ECUR 401)

Debbie — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 23:05:53 +0000

In this course, I invite teacher candidates to re-conceptualize the schooling of children in the context of family and community and to learn how, as an educator, to step out of the school and into the community. I challenge them to consider the stance they take when they enter a community and to see themselves as learners in that place as much as teachers.

As they work alongside children, parents, families, educators and staff in various ways in community schools, I believe the teacher candidates develop a sound philosophy of parent engagement and learn how to translate this philosophy into practice. As they learn from this engagement what parent knowledge is and how to use parent knowledge as well as teacher knowledge in decisions regarding teaching and learning, they learn to position parents alongside them in meaningful ways rather than as aides or organizers who do support work for them.