Teacher candidates' perceptions of their learning and engagement in a writing methods course

• Candidates' perceived depth of learning in a writing methods course.
• Learning occurred across multiple social settings.
• Small group settings particularly engaged candidate learning.
• Overlapping learning roles as writers and teachers influenced learning.

In this paper we examine teacher candidates' perceptions of learning and learning opportunities in a semester-long course writing methods course. Results from this study indicate candidates felt they had developed understandings of writing, teacher practices, and themselves as writers. They also indicate that three factors fostered candidates' engagement in learning experiences: (1) learning across multiple activity settings, (2) interactions with peers, and (3) overlapping experiential learning roles as both teachers and writers. These factors provide a useful framework for planning and implementing learning activity in practice-focused teacher education. Other implications for teacher education programs, teacher educators, and researchers are discussed.