School and Community-Based Immersion: Preparing Urban Preservice Teachers to Confront Race in Urban Schools

• In Event: Moving Partnerships Beyond the School to the Community and Beyond

Abstract

Many teacher education programs incorporate community-based immersion experiences into their pedagogical practices. Through community learning immersion experiences and programs, pre-service teachers directly engage with individuals and community-based organizations that operate inside and outside of schools to serve students living in urban environments. The idea is that, rather than relying on inaccurate assumptions or preconceived biases, educators can deepen their knowledge and understanding of racially, culturally, and linguistically diverse families living in environments that may be contextually different from those with which educators are more familiar. By serving in these agencies for extended periods of time, pre-service teachers gain a better understanding of themselves, the community, and the lived experiences of their students (Waddell, 2013). In fact, if effectively executed, such programs may help adjust the negative perceptions future educators may have about working in high poverty, under-resourced urban schools. Considering the value in community-based immersion, this case study explored the racial development of two prospective pre-service teachers, participating in a two-year urban school and community-based immersion program. Utilizing Tatum’s (1992) racial identity development theory, we found that in studying participants’ discourses (journals, interviews, and seminar video recordings) that these prospective pre-service teachers showed progression in how they viewed themselves and their students of color living in urban environments.

Authors

• Abiola Farinde-Wu, University of Massachusetts - Boston

• Adam Alvarez, University of Pittsburgh