By Amber Strong Makaiau, Ph.D.
At the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa (UHM) School of Teacher Education, our mission is to prepare future K-12 educators through field-based experiences that bridge theory and practice. One of the most critical aspects of our teacher preparation program is ensuring that teacher candidates have authentic teaching opportunities before they enter the profession. As a part of the process, we also want to ensure that we are serving the students, teachers, and communities that we partner with to provide real life hands-on teaching experiences. This is the simultaneous renewal of schools and the education of educators promoted by progressive educator, John Goodlad expanded on this previous blog.
In response to the growing need for improved literacy instruction, we redesigned our field experiences and curriculum to integrate a Literacy Clinic into our methods and field-based courses. This initiative pairs teacher candidates with K-8 students, giving them structured opportunities to provide small-group and one-on-one literacy instruction. Not only does this allow teacher candidates to develop essential instructional skills, but it also offers literacy support to students in our partner schools.
For our elementary teacher candidates, the Literacy Clinic spanned across three semesters, building from foundational strategies to more advanced instruction. For our secondary candidates (across all disciplines), the clinic is part of a Disciplinary Literacy course. At all levels, teacher candidates gain direct experience assessing student needs, designing targeted lessons, and reflecting on their impact.
A key part of this model is our Micro-Teaching assignment. Each teacher candidate develops a literacy strategy lesson, teaches it to their peers for feedback, revises it, and then implements it in the clinic. This structure builds confidence and strengthens the teacher candidates’ ability to plan, teach, and adjust instruction, all skills they’ll rely on in their future classrooms.
Before the Literacy Clinic, our candidates sometimes struggled to apply new strategies because their field placements require different goals and lessons. Now, the entire cohort is immersed in a structured, supportive space that mirrors real classrooms and real needs. As one candidate put it, “I really appreciate how we implement the strategy right away, and at the same time, my cohort peers are doing the same with their own assigned students in the Clinic. Then we all come together to share what worked, what didn’t, and how we can improve our instruction moving forward.”
The Literacy Clinic also serves the community. So far, over 600 K - 8 students across two public schools in Hawai‘i have received personalized literacy support. Our teacher candidates assess students’ reading and writing skills and tailor lessons to meet their specific needs, whether it’s decoding, fluency, vocabulary support, comprehension, or writing.
Is it a lot of work? Yes. We coach each candidate individually, and partnerships with schools require ongoing collaboration. But the results are undeniable: our teacher candidates are better prepared, and the K - 8 students are growing as readers and writers.
We believe literacy is a right, and learning to teach it well is a responsibility. We also know, as progressive educators have argued for over a century, “We learn by doing.” In the Literacy Clinic, our teacher candidates are doing just that. In the future, we hope Literacy Clinics will become a cornerstone of all of our teacher preparation programs, transforming how we train future educators and support K-8 students. This is just one example of how the simultaneous renewal of schools and the education of educators, fostered in school-University partnerships can improve the lives of today’s students.
Works Cited:
Dewey, J. (1986, September). Experience and education. In The educational forum (Vol. 50, No. 3, pp. 241-252). Taylor & Francis Group.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Dr. Stephanie Buelow is an Associate Professor of Literacy Education at the University of Hawaii at Mānoa in the School for Teacher Education. Her current work is focused on teacher preparation and literacy leadership. Stephanie is the Co-Director of the Hawaii Writing Project and facilitates the Hawaii Writing Project’s Invitational Summer Institute. She also currently serves as the President of the Hawaii Council of Teachers of English and serves as the Region 8 Standing Committee on Affiliates representative for the National Council of Teachers of English. Stephanie is the 2018 recipient of the University of Hawaii’s Board of Regents Medal for Excellence in Teaching and 2023-2024 awardee of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Innovation and Impact Showcase for her work in designing and implementing an elementary literacy clinic. Her research interests lie in disciplinary literacies, and teacher learning and development. Stephanie’s publications have appeared in SUP: School University Partnerships, The Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy, Literacy Practice and Research; The Reading Teacher; Reading Horizons; Middle School Journal; The Journal of Literacy and Language Education; and PDS Partners: Bridging Research to Practice. Stephanie draws upon twelve years of elementary teaching experience in culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse schools to ground her current work as a teacher educator.
Dr. Charlotte Frambaugh-Kritzer is an accomplished Professor of Secondary Reading/Literacy Education and Co-Director of the Hawai‘i Writing Project at the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa in the School of Teacher Education. Her commitment to educational excellence has earned her multiple awards, including the University of Hawai‘i Board of Regents’ Medal for Excellence in Teaching (2020) and the Innovation and Impact Showcase Award (2023–2024) for her leadership in designing and implementing a groundbreaking Secondary Literacy Clinic. Drawing on her years as a middle school teacher and Literacy Coach, Dr. Frambaugh-Kritzer brings deep practical knowledge to her academic work. She bridges theory and practice through innovative, field-based learning opportunities. Her research has been published in leading peer-reviewed journals such as: Reading Horizons, Studying Teacher Education, Action in Teacher Education, and Literacy Research and Instruction. Her forthcoming co-authored book, Critical Friendship as a Self-Study Research Tool: A Comprehensive Resource Exploring the Complexities, reflects her ongoing commitment to self-study and critical friendship as powerful tools for professional growth and educational transformation. Dr. Frambaugh-Kritzer’ is passionate about literacy innovation, inclusivity, and impact across educational contexts.
