Community College Teacher Education Programs as Incubators for Teacher-Activists

• In Event: Putting "Community" Back Into Urban Education: Lessons From Community College Service-Learning and Practicum Experiences

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to document and discuss the role of an urban community college teacher education program in creating teacher candidates who understand their capacity to serve their communities as educator-activists (Valdez, et al., 2018). Many community college students have been historically under-served by their own educational experiences. In their work as pre-service teachers they demonstrate their commitment to serving communities that continue to be marginalized. Thus, community college teacher candidates hold deep knowledge related to issues of educational equity and social justice. Part of their preparation as pre-service teachers must include service-learning experiences that provide them with the opportunity to develop their capacity to engage in advocacy and activism.

This paper uses Paulo Friere’s (1970) notion of praxis: “reflecting and acting on the world to transform it” as a guiding framework to look at how one urban community college uses service-learning experiences. As in most teacher preparation courses, students complete many hours of fieldwork in classrooms, learning with and from teachers, children, and young people. However, in the social foundation courses, pre-service teachers have the opportunity to participate in service-learning experiences outside of the classroom. These opportunities include supporting out-of-school and informal learning experiences, participating in community activism related to issues that impact children and families, and attending and speaking at town-hall meetings with elected officials. Course assignments work in tandem with these service learning experiences to strengthen the students’ knowledge and skills by researching topics related to their service learning experiences in which the students have a personal investment. Having a contextual understanding of the educational system and engaging in a deep inquiry into issues of equity and social justice, leads these pre-service teachers to a reexamination of their roles as educators (Howard, 1999).

Other research has explored how incorporating activism and advocacy into teacher education coursework can strengthen teacher candidates’ sense of self efficacy and foster opportunities for meaningful collaboration among the community of learners (Van Tol, 2017). The method used for this study was to gather narratives from teacher candidates participating in 10 sections of social foundations of education courses for students of early childhood, childhood, bilingual childhood, and secondary education.

The data for this study comes from students’ autoethnographic writing in which the students reflect critically on their experiences in the field. In the social foundation courses, teacher candidates examine and acknowledge their own positionality during and after attending different community-based events. The researchers use a grounded approach to data analysis to examine the impact that this type of fieldwork experience has on developing educators who see themselves as activists charged with making real differences in their schools and communities.

The significance of this study is that it documents the impact on pre-service teachers’ identities when they experience themselves as agents of change. Further, this study offers a model for the field of teacher education in how to use service learning as a tool for engaging teacher candidates in authentic experiences that support their ongoing professional development.

Authors

• Yolanda A. Medina, The City University of New York

• Cara Kronen, Borough of Manhattan Community College

• Kirsten Cole, Borough of Manhattan Community College - CUNY