Shifting the Conversation: Inspiring and Supporting Young People to Return to Their Communities to Teach

• In Event: Sheraton Roundtable Session Twelve
  In Roundtable Session: Urban Learning, Teaching and Research SIG Roundtable Four (Table 14)

Abstract

Recruiting and retaining racially, linguistically, and ethnically diverse teachers to work in a predominantly White system is an uphill battle. Dominant narratives about teaching as a fraught and unappealing profession further hamper these efforts. These discourses are damaging to urban school districts dealing with inequitable funding, making recruitment and retention an even heavier lift. These same urban communities are dealing with the extraction of talent - especially Black and Brown youth who for generations have been told that the way to success is to leave your community behind. This study is based on a critical teacher education program built as a grow-your-own (GYO) model that supports high school students to consider teaching in their own community.

Authors

• Mayida Zaal, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author

• Danielle Epps, Montclair State University
  Presenting Author

• Dyan Smiley, American Federation of Teachers
  Presenting Author