Connecting Beliefs and Practice: Graduate Students’ Approaches to Theoretical Integration and Equitable Literacy Teaching

This qualitative study explores how graduate students in literacy education connect theoretical frameworks to classroom practices. Grounded in Deweyan pragmatist philosophy and Kucer’s multidimensional literacy theory, researchers analyzed course assignments from online graduate students using document review and content analysis. The methodology employed a collaborative codebook and Dedoose software (version 10.0.25), utilizing descriptive coding to identify literacy practices and deductive coding to examine theoretical alignments. The results show patterns in how graduate students link theory and practice, with varying frequencies of references to different frameworks. Three main themes emerged: students’ integration of multiple theoretical frameworks, their focus on tailoring instruction to students’ developmental needs, and their emphasis on relating literacy instruction to students’ cultural backgrounds and personal experiences. The findings highlight participants’ preference for theoretical diversity, indicating a nuanced understanding of how multiple perspectives can inform teaching practices. This integration reflects educators’ recognition that complex classroom environments require diverse theoretical foundations, emphasizing the value of developing a new survey tool that captures this complexity. These results contribute to our understanding of how literacy educators integrate theoretical knowledge with practical classroom applications in contemporary educational settings.