Offering Choice in Teacher Education.

A teacher educator incorporates active involvement of students and choice in two different college classrooms. The first class was an undergraduate reading/literacy education class. Students were offered the choice of the RAP (Reading Addiction Process) option or taking the final exam. Students read materials of their own choice on a daily basis. Requiring daily reading was intended to help form habits in a way that infrequent or irregular practice would not. At the end of the semester, students wrote a brief reflective paper in which they considered their growth as readers. In a graduate-level course intended to acquaint students with findings and trends in recent reading research, groups of four or five students were responsible for designing and carrying out a modest piece of research. Allowing each group to choose its own research question contributed to the active involvement that characterized the research projects. The element of choice in these courses made a difference for many teachers and prospective teachers. It seems to have been particularly effective in fostering self-confidence and developing new habits. (RS)