Unique Approaches to Pre-service Teacher Prep from a Community Schools and Community-Engaged Paradigm

• In Event: Preparing Educators to Foster Strong Family-School-Community Partnerships in Community Schools

Abstract

At this university, pre-service teacher preparation is working hand-in-hand with the local community school strategy and community partners toward a central objective, to ensure classroom teachers receive diverse experiences both inside and out of traditional classroom learning that engages then in the communities they serve. With Critical Pedagogy (Freire, 1970) and Antiracist Education (Love, 2019) as the theoretical framework, two strategies are changing the delivery of teacher prep:

Using community schools as a vehicle to promote a well-rounded, positive, and welcoming introduction to their first in-school experience

Facilitating community-engaged learning that amplifies family and community engagement

In the first strategy, faculty have partnered with the United Way to pair each new teacher educator with a community school coordinator. As we know, educators who receive a robust introduction to under resourced public schools report having a welcoming, experience with depth in understanding and community engagement that welcomes diversity (Herrenkohl, 2019; Manko, 2024). In our experience, this connection scaffolds supports to cater to each university student’s needs and honors their previous knowledge. With a local, respectful entry point for university students to enter the school, there is much more opportunity for an assets-based understanding of the community they serve. Likewise, school partners and parents share feedback about how they would like university students to be oriented to their school that does not introduce harm. The scaffolded supports assist those new to teaching with a well-rounded introduction and for nontraditional students with rich experiences, they learn how to connect their previous learning with their current environment. Preliminary feedback via surveys from site supervisors and from the teacher prep students themselves via reflections confirm that this experience is a nourishing entry point for their teacher prep experience.

In the second strategy, four faculty members aligned with four community partners to design modules for teacher educators who wish to embed family engagement core competencies to their knowledge base. The purpose of this work was for new teachers to be aware of the things they do to engage families and communities and to be seen as allies both in and outside the classroom in order to foster resilient, trusting students with engaged families (Mary & Young, 2017; Tajani, 2020). Through the input of hundreds of local family members, community partners, teachers, and students, the [Program Name] amplifies family and community engagement in teacher preparation from the first class through expanded learning modules for those already in the profession. University students’ reflection papers show a heightened understanding of how family and community work hand-in-hand with academic learning professionals and healthy wellbeing staff to ensure holistic growth for students and their families.

Each of these strategies have implications to improve the process and procedures for which teacher prep students are introduced to schools, particularly in areas with less socioeconomic power. Through building social capital and better understanding community wealth, we are promoting an assets-based approach for teacher prep students to take forward in their teaching career.

Author

• Janine Al-Aseer, University of Tennessee