Ive Got the Power!: Investigating Pre-service Special Educators Perceptions and Abilities to Teach Reading to Students with Disabilities Tandria Milagno Callins M.S., CCC-SLP ABSTRACT This study, through a multiple case study approach, was designed to investigate how pre-service special educators were empowered to teach reading to students with disabilities during their final internship. A developmental-constructivism theoretical framework guided this study in order to examine how a teacher preparation program prepared a six-member cohort of pre-service special educators in the areas of efficacy, competency, and preparedness. Based on the principles of developmental-constructivism, the researcher investigated whether or not these pre-service special educators became more empowered in the areas of efficacy, competency, and preparedness through active-learning and hands-on opportunities. The researcher employed a concurrent mixed-method design for data collection and analysis. To complement the quantitative data from the surveys, the qualitative data from the interviews were collected in order to provide support, to explain, and to account for discrepancies in the data. The levels of empowerment were measured by the differences between self-reported data on pretest and posttest measures on the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), Special Education Competency Scale (SECS), and Preparedness to Teach Reading Survey (PTRS). Videotaped observations of each pre-service special educator teaching a reading lesson were collected and analyzed to determine the percentage of observable reading practices. Results included both increases and decreases in perceptions of empowerment on the TSES, SECS, and PTRS. The pre-service special educators were able to demonstrate approximately 50-65% of the reading competencies on the reading observation rubric. The results also revealed gaps between self-perceptions and actual practices among the participants. Institutional barriers such as student behaviors and the mentor/mentee relationship accounted for most of the gaps observed between beliefs and practices.

The first two decades of the 20th century have brought us to a critical crossroad that few could have predicted when the calendar ticked over from 1999 to 2000. The strife of world wars, of intolerance, of discrimination, of prejudice and oppression that were so evident in the 20th century should have provided the impetus for peace and acceptance in the 21st. Yet, world events early in this century have demonstrated that we have not learned from the lessons of history and thus, unless we intervene, we are doomed to repeat them. Teachers and schools play significant roles in shaping future citizens – in helping learners develop character and integrity, to value others and the earth, and to work collaboratively to address problems new and old. Teacher educators play a critical role in developing the pedagogical understanding of pre-service teachers as they prepare to take up these roles in Canadian classrooms. Teacher educators working from and for a social justice mandate recognize that there are many factors that impact their ability to guide pre-service teachers to a greater understanding and valuing of equity and diversity in their classrooms, schools, and communities. This study’s exploration of factors that constrain or enable this work has exposed the difficulty and intransigence of perceiving the work and ultimately, the world through polarized binaries of either/or – constrain or enable. This has resulted in a greater respect for the complexity in envisioning and enacting pedagogy and practice that strives to inculcate pre-service teachers with a commitment to creating classrooms focused on equity, diversity and social justice. / Graduate