“Why is the bear sad?”: preparing preservice educators to support children’s inferencing during storybook reading

Abstract

ABSTRACT The study investigated the effects of an instructional unit for preservice educators aimed at developing their knowledge about children’s inferencing skills and strategies to support these skills during storybook reading. Participants were randomly assigned to either an experimental group that received instruction on supporting inferencing (n = 13) or a comparison group (n = 12) that received instruction on print referencing, another means of supporting emergent literacy. For both groups, instruction involved a videorecorded presentation; independent reading, observation, and reflection; and discussion and practice of the targeted strategies with peers in a virtual environment. Participants’ knowledge about emergent literacy and inferencing was evaluated via a questionnaire and a role-play. While both groups increased their knowledge about emergent literacy from pretest to posttest, only the experimental group improved significantly on knowledge about inferencing and asked a greater number and proportion of inferential questions during the role-play, as well as more diverse questions. The implications for education and professional development for preservice educators are discussed.