Cultivating Pedagogical Proficiencies for Facilitating Discussions About Diverse Youth Literature

Abstract

The effective facilitation of discourses about diverse youth literature (DYL) is dependent on teachers' application of vital instructional approaches. This has implications for how pre-service teachers (PSTs) are prepared to involve their students in relevant dialogues that critically examine how DYL mirror authentic life experiences. Hence, the author undertook this action research to execute a methodology model which illustrated instructional processes that may be employed in training PSTs to make conscious decisions about planning, designing, and guiding discussions in a lesson. The participants were 20 PSTs who pursued a literature methods course at a teacher training institution in Jamaica, and studied the texts “Bright Thursdays” by Olive Senior and “Barbie Doll” by Marge Piercy. The application of the model provided insights into the benefits and considerations for training PSTs to practice how to facilitate discussions about DYL during lessons and how to use their literature classes as opportunities for developing social responsibility among their students.