Restructuring Pre-Service Teacher Preparation Programs for the Urban School Context

Abstract

This capstone proposes a restructured pre-service teacher preparation program aimed at better preparing pre-service teachers to respond to unfamiliar communities and cultures encountered in the urban school context (Bandura, 1977). Given the impact teacher responsiveness has on academic achievement, pre-service teacher preparation programs must provide curriculum and field experiences that work to dispel the misconceptions and negative dispositions inhibiting effective teaching practices, positive student-teacher relationships, and successful learning environments (Haberman, 2000). Restructured pre-service teacher preparation programs can nurture culturally responsive teaching practices beneficial to the urban school context where novice and pre-service teachers lack exposure and maintain unchallenged knowledge (Milner, 2012). Through self-reflecting curriculum and community-building field experiences, pre-service teachers have the opportunity to reconsider the urban school context as a community, the importance of the urban school teacher, and the need to end perpetuated misconceptions and dispositions that deter pre-service teachers from considering career opportunities in the urban school context (Brown, 2004). Keywords: pre-service teacher preparation programs, pre-service teachers, the urban school context, culturally responsive teaching practices, and novice teacher