Nurturing Responsive Connections: Preparing Teachers to Meaningfully Connect With and Serve Students

• In Event: Sunday Roundtable Session 7:45 am
  In Roundtable Session: Inclusivity in Preservice Teaching (Table 31)

Abstract

In order to recover from the pandemic losses, students need well-prepared, culturally responsive teachers who can understand, connect with, engage, and challenge them. While many programs effectively prepare teachers for the academic aspects of teaching, there is less focus paid to the relational aspects of teaching (Author1, 2020a). This paper uses mixed methods to explore how one new teacher residency program in Arizona integrates a series of relational competencies throughout coursework and fieldwork , how residents respond to this work, and how students in the classrooms where residents are placed interpret this relationship building. Findings suggest that the residents’ coursework and fieldwork translated to increased relational efficacy and sense of connection, support, and safety among their students.

Authors

• Victoria M. Theisen-Homer, Northern Arizona University

• Jessica Manzone, Northern Arizona University

• Thomas J. Weaver, Northern Arizona University