Preparing Teachers to Work With Students Who Are Experiencing Homelessness: A University-Community Partnership

• In Event: Preservice Teachers' Experiences in Community-Based Field Experiences to Expand Asset Thinking

Abstract

Preparing teacher education candidates to teach in the District of Columbia, the capital of the United States, provides unique challenges and opportunities for teacher education faculty. This paper describes a university-community partnership between a course in the School of Education and a community-based children’s homelessness organization that was developed with the intent to support the organization and children who are homeless, while also developing pre-service teachers’ knowledge and skills related to working with students who are homeless and living in poverty. The development of the partnership, assignments for the course, and what we learned from this experience that can be applied in future courses are discussed.

Authors

• Meghan E Cosier, Chapman University

• Cynthia B Greer, Trinity Washington University