"We're Gonna Walk This Road Together": Relationality and Networked Communities in an Urban Teacher Residency

• In Event: Culturally Responsive Schools

Abstract

In an effort to contribute to policies and practices that enable and sustain greater diversity for the teaching community in the United States, this paper explores the ways in which urban teacher residency programs can leverage pedagogies of relationality to facilitate networks of support between and among residents, mentor teachers, and program faculty. Utilizing a qualitative approach including focus group data and collaborative autoethnography, authors make the case that networked communities of practice that prioritize pedagogies of relationality and that center social justice orientations are well-positioned to sustain teachers’ commitments to making positive change in urban schools.

Authors

• Amanda Winkelsas, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Amanda Seccia, University of Chicago

• Elisabeth Etopio, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Julie Gorlewski, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Suzanne N. Rosenblith, University at Buffalo - SUNY

• Gary Crump, SUNY - University at Buffalo

• Yuldonna Middleton, University at Buffalo - SUNY