Readers becoming teachers of literature

This naturalistic case study focuses on 2 preservice students in a secondary language arts program. I wanted to know how their histories as readers and students of literature intersected with their secondary-school literature course and how their developing stances on teaching literature changed as they moved through their preservice teaching. Data collection included fieldnotes, audiotaped interviews, reading protocols; documents such as syllabi, handouts, and assignments; preservice students' portfolios, logs, lesson plans, and tests; and videotapes of the participants teaching literature during their preservice teaching. I made observations of additional classes, and I collected teaching logs, lesson plans, and other relevant artifacts. I used a constant-comparison analysis to produce grounded theory abo tit the preservice experience. Vie data revealed two broad sources of knowledge that were important to the participants' entering perceptions on teaching literature. prior experiences with literature and preexisting conceptions of the role of a teacher. The ideas they brought with them were often in conflict with what they encountered in the preservice course. Their cases illustrate the impact of a secondary-literature course and preservice teaching on participants' ideas about teaching literature.