Literacy co-teacher: a self-study

Abstract

The purpose of this self-study was to discover how the researcher’s professional learning in reading instruction and teacher collaboration and her praxis as a Literacy Co-teacher would support student literacy learning; especially ensuring students experienced the joy and love of reading. In seeking to inform the study and her practice, the researcher examined the literature in the areas of reading instruction and collaboration through the lens of her own internal questions in these areas. The researcher’s sources of data were her researcher’s journal in which reflections were regularly recorded and a questionnaire completed by colleagues at the end of the research period. The result was four umbrella themes of Relationships, Collaboration, Literacy, and Joy. Ultimately the researcher concluded there were four lessons to be learned for both herself and other educators: in order to support student literacy learning, especially ensuring that they experience the joy and love of reading, one must provide balanced, individualized reading instruction, invest in building relationships, be a servant leader and promote joy.