Abstract:

In the teaching of prospective teachers, it is becoming more common for students to be encouraged to encounter and reflect upon their understandings and experiences of teaching and learning through a variety of lenses. One option I have used myself and seen used by others is for students to explore notions of education using a piece of fictional material (novel, film, children's picture book etc.) as a backdrop. The objective of this type of activity is for students to use structures, ideas, and concepts from the fictional text to help articulate their understandings of teaching and learning. In keeping with this approach, this paper explores notions of becoming a teacher by juxtaposing themes from Gary Paulsen’s (1985) DOGSONG with themes from the field of teacher education.

This discussion of teaching explores a recursive framework for teacher education. Three key components of the framework are presented: mentorship, practice and storytelling. To begin a brief synopsis of Paulsen's text is presented.

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