How Pre-service Teachers Use Knowledge of the Learner to Make in the Moment and Planned Teaching Decisions

Abstract


 Our research team examined pre-service teachers’ (undergraduate students studying education) case study projects to determine what types of decisions teachers make during guided reading instruction. We coded each teacher decision as either a “planning” or “in-the-moment” decision. Our research team then looked at what each teacher decision was related to: did the decision help a child with comprehension, solving for unknown words, etc. The findings revealed that pre-service teachers are able to make complex decisions that often lead to a focus on meaning-making and comprehension.