I Am Forever Affected by These Students: Critically Engaged Student Teachers in Urban Field Placements

• In Event: 33.051 - Critical Education as an Act of Knowing

Abstract

Student teaching is a critical component of preservice teacher education. This qualitative case study investigates the experiences of 3 student teachers who appeared to be engaged in their field experiences in very different ways. Drawing on and adding to Schlechty’s (2002, 2011) theory of engagement and using critical theory as a lens for analysis, we classified these student teachers as either “critically engaged” or “strategically engaged” based on their relationships with students, their desire to take risks with curriculum and push back against injustices and oppression, and their sense of responsibility to students and to the profession. Implications for urban teacher education programs are discussed.

Authors

• Stephanie Behm Cross, Georgia State University

• Jessica James Hale, Georgia State University

• Rogers Smith, Georgia State University