Powerful Learning, Powerful Teaching in Urban Contexts: The Case for University-Based Teacher Preparation

• In Event: Inquiry Into the Influence of Teacher Education Program Design on Preservice Teachers

Abstract

There is much interest currently in the preparation of equity-minded social justice oriented teachers to enter into and remain in urban public schools. Hotly contested is the role of the university in preparing these teachers. This paper reports on a three-year longitudinal cross-case analysis of two university-based teacher education programs, located in geographically disparate cities. The study documents the gradual development of the teacher’s professional voice and identity as the novices grapple with the theories discussed in their coursework and draw on them to make sense of their classroom experiences. Also of particular note are the university-designed activities that foster a deepening of the novice teachers’ understandings of their students and communities—understandings that then guide their subsequent teaching practice.

Authors

• Anna E. Richert, Mills College

• Klaudia M. Rivera, Long Island University

• Katherine Schultz, Mills College