Actions and intentions: Responsive teaching and transforming pedagogy

This dissertation presents a qualitative description of an integrated literacy methods course in an elementary teacher education program in a large Southwest university. The experience of learning shared between a teacher educator and 22 developing teachers in their first semester of their program evolved through responsive pedagogy, a thoughtful and caring stance towards teaching and learning.; The study, conducted in three phases over 2 years, used the methods experience, a follow-up discussion group during their second semester, and classroom observations during their third semester to inform a description of how the methods course became a space for engagement---building relationships and exploring possibilities for pedagogy.; In my findings, I describe how I, as a teacher educator, engaged in pedagogy with developing teachers in a way that deliberately reflected and embodied intentions about teaching and learning that I believe to have value for developing teachers' work with young children. This shared methods experience influenced both my understanding of the role of a teacher educator and the developing teachers' understanding of what it means to be a teacher.; Teacher educators who can thoughtfully engage in pedagogy with developing teachers as learners will be able to foster understanding of content knowledge, teaching methods, and development, with opportunities for thinking critically and reflectively about what it means to be a teacher.