In an era when lifelong learning is emphasized, teachers should strive for self-development and professional improvement, and as teachers, they should consider establishing their own identity. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the pro...
In an era when lifelong learning is emphasized, teachers should strive for self-development and professional improvement, and as teachers, they should consider establishing their own identity. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the process of an elementary school teacher's efforts to acquire reading education expertise and what he experienced while participating in various reading groups, examine the changes, growth, and improvement of teacher efficacy, and find implications.
This study started with the idea of an elementary school teacher wanting to have a reading education expertise and analyzed the meaning and implications of the efforts and experiences made so far using self-narrative methods, and the conclusions and implications obtained are as follows.
I am an elementary school teacher who is very interested in reading education. I wanted to become a reading education expert, so I read a lot of related books and tried to practice reading education in my classroom and school. However, I felt that short-term training participation or my own efforts were not enough, and I felt the need for social reading with a reading community where I could continuously learn and practice, so I started participating in book clubs. In the process, I met many people, learned from them, received help, and experienced growth together, continuously developing my expertise in reading education.
As a result of examining previous studies, the reading education expertise required for elementary school teachers includes the ability to create an appropriate reading environment, the ability to provide customized classes with knowledge based on understanding of reading materials and students, and the ability to provide customized classes based on my philosophy and beliefs. It could be summarized as efforts and attitudes toward continuous professional development.
The factors that enable me to continue learning and practicing reading education can be summarized as ‘role model’, ‘mentor’, ‘collaborator’, ‘community’, and ‘student’. Thanks to these factors, I was able to continue reading, studying, practicing, and sharing children's literature together, and I realized that through this, I, along with the members, changed and grew, creating a virtuous cycle that led to the growth of the students. In addition, by publishing several co-authored books, I was objectively recognized for my expertise. In order to acquire more systematic theoretical knowledge, I entered graduate school and conducted in-depth self-research, recovering my low self-esteem in areas where I thought I was lacking. , I gained an identity as a children's literature major with expertise in reading education and increased my teaching efficacy. Through this, I was able to confirm for myself that there is a positive correlation between a teacher's expertise and self-efficacy, and that teachers with expertise have the characteristic of continuously seeking opportunities for learning and self-development. Therefore, we hope that this study will also be helpful to other teachers who are interested in improving their reading education expertise.