How Student-teachers Approach the Teaching of Reading: At the Interface Between Personal History, Theory and Practice

This article charts the progress of one cohort of student- teachers (variously known as beginning teachers and pre-service teachers) training to teach English in London secondary schools during 2008-9. The research focuses specifically on the experiences which facilitate their development as confident and creative teachers and assessors of reading at Key Stage 3 (11-14 years). Findings indicate that it is the interaction - and tensions - between their personal reading histories, engagement in theory, and practice within the social environment of the classroom which shape their burgeoning identities as teachers of literature and reading. This year-long study demonstrates that for some a growing confidence has enabled them to look beyond approaches advocated by statutory curriculum frameworks to develop their own view of innovative practice in the teaching of reading.