Creating and facilitating a teacher education curriculum using preservice teachers’ autobiographical stories

Preservice teachers’ autobiographical stories can serve as a personal, powerful, and poignant curriculum for teacher education. This research examines what and how preservice teachers learned through sharing their own and witnessing others’ autobiographical narratives in a literacy methods course. The teacher educator’s key role is examined in facilitating a public context of vulnerability in which preservice teachers shared painful stories revealing their sociocultural inequalities and personal struggles as literacy learners. Roles of the teacher educator are discussed in the transformation of autobiographies into deep understandings, universal connections and substantive strategies for preservice teachers to teach literacy effectively with diverse students.

Research highlights
► I examine preservice teachers’ autobiographical stories as a curriculum for teacher education.
► Stories increase teachers understanding of diverse student experiences and learning needs.
► The teacher educator’s role as facilitator of preservice teacher autobiographical work is key.
► Teacher educator roles include facilitating a public context of vulnerability.