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San Francisco Teacher Residency and Trinity University: Teaching for Deeper Learning Through an Equity Perspective

Fri, April 28, 8:15 to 10:15am, Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, Floor: Ballroom Level, Room 302 C

Abstract

This paper examines the ways in which two teacher preparation programs—the San Francisco Teacher Residency (SFTR) and Trinity University’s Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT)—instantiate deeper learning-aligned teaching practices by preparing teacher candidates to build on the rich cultural understandings and experiences that students bring to school. The findings are based on in-depth case studies of the two programs that involved interviews and focus groups with program faculty, mentors, current teacher candidates, program graduates, and other key stakeholders, classroom observations of teacher candidates and graduates, an online survey of teacher candidates, and reviews of program documents and outcomes data. Data analysis was multi-stage and iterative to draw out common themes across the various data sources.

We find that both programs prepare teachers to teach for deeper learning in highly diverse communities through an explicit focus on equity-centered pedagogy that ensures teacher candidates understand deeply how schooling reflects and is embedded in the larger social, economic, and political context. This social justice and equity lens is built into every aspect of each program—the long-term clinical experiences (including choice of clinical sites and mentors), the coursework (including choice of assignments and readings), the choice and assignment of faculty who teach and supervise candidates in these program, the intentional selection and development of a small cohort of candidates, and ongoing support from program faculty once candidates are employed.

A core belief in both programs is that teaching requires teachers to know their students and content well, and to know themselves well. Through coursework and clinical practice, candidates work to understand the community in which their students and families reside, and to communicate effectively with their students’ families. Candidates learn to experience education from the perspectives of different students who bring distinctive experiences and frames of reference to the classroom, in order to build on these experiences in respectful and responsive ways. Additionally, both programs engage candidates in ongoing and explicit conversations about their own identities and privileges, allowing candidates to deepen their understanding of how their experiences affect their perceptions of the communities they serve and how they themselves are perceived.

Drawing on specific examples from these two case study sites, this paper provides insight into the ways in which teacher preparation programs can support an equity-focused lens to support the development of students’ deeper learning competencies.

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