Reading identity of preservice teachers as component of their teacher identity. A study of their reading autobiographies

Abstract

In order to train teachers, it is necessary to understand how teacher identity of the prospective teachers is built and, accordin­gly, the impact of the personal biographies of preservice teacher on this process must be analyzed. Reading education presents a few peculiar features as school subject be­cause it deals with the development of skills rather than content knowledge and it is om­nipresent in the lives of the teachers from childhood. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze what the impact of the future teachers’ reading identity is on their identity and knowledge instruction as trainers of readers. Reading autobiographies written by 88 senior students of Primary Teacher Education bachelor were analyzed with a view to understand their identity as readers. The results allow identifying some factors on which their image as readers is based and checking how this image is grounded in their reading biography. It is concluded that the pre-service teachers, with different reading identities, share a similar represen­tation of reading work in school: this one is based on external reading skills mastery, on reading for efferent purpose and on the lack of opportunities for a personal choice of the readings and for reading for pleasure.