Preservice Literacy Teacher Identity Development: Discourse, Subjectivity and Agency

Literacy teacher identity development: Discourses,subjectivity and agency is a response to the growingnumber of concerned teacher educators who seek tomake sense of the complexities of identitydevelopment in elementary and middle schoolpreservice literacy teachers. Using a poststructuralfeminisms theoretical lens, Dr. Larson investigatesthe authoritative discourses of personal literacybiographies, literacy coursework, and studentteaching impacting the identity development of sevenpreservice teachers during their graduate teachereducation program. The agency of the preserviceteachers is demonstrated through the strategies theyused to negotiate and perform their identities duringstudent teaching--working within and outside of theliteracy structures of the classrooms of theircooperating teachers. The power of time and space inrelation to each other is seen as a means forcontinued identity transformation for preserviceliteracy teachers. This book is written for literacyteacher educators, preservice literacy teachers and professional development educators.

Mindy Legard Larson, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor andElementary Education Coordinator at Linfield College. Shereceived a Ph.D. in Education from Oregon State University and aM.S. in Education from Western Oregon University. Dr. Larsonpreviously taught first, second, and third grades, and worked asa Program and Curriculum Specialist.