Almost a Teacher: Considering Curriculum Through Reflexion in the Liminal Space

Abstract

This article examines the liminal space, “the betwixt and between” (V. Turner, 1969), that preservice teachers inhabit after they complete their last practicum and return to campus for final coursework. We look at preservice teachers’ expectations, assumptions, and understandings of questions and content in a senior-level curriculum course as uncovered through their assignment, the commonplace book. In this assignment they examined their understanding and meaning-making, or “truth-telling” (Huebner, 1999), in a personal text, which can allow for continued practice of reflection and reflexivity as they enter into their careers in addition to informing the researchers about how students experience growth in their understanding of issues in curriculum as experienced in the liminal space, grounded in historical, social, cultural, and experiential contexts.