VIRTUAL New Schools of Thought
Abstract
Drawing from William Butler Yeats’ assertion that education is not the filling of a pail but the lighting of a fire, we describe and analyze the effects of the implementation of Paideia Seminars as an instructional tool in a literature course for preservice teachers. Participants were 16 students who first participated in seminar discussions and learned to plan and facilitate seminars following the Paideia protocol.Over the course of the semester, I monitored students’ progress in developing evidence-based coherent arguments and counterarguments. Pre-service teachers not only gained expertise as seminar facilitators, but their oral and written responses to seminar issues revealed an increase in more elaborated arguments, use of textual references, counterargument production, and overall sophisticated thinking.
Pelusa Orellana is a professor and researcher at the Universidad de los Andes, in Santiago, Chile. She has taught several reading and literacy courses and is the director of the Center for Literacy Research and Innovation. Her areas of research are reading assessment, reading motivation, and reading instruction.
7:30 am - 8:30 am
Thursday 9th January, 2025