Lessons learned in an urban school: Preparing teachers for the educational village

Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions of Mathematics Education in Urban Schools

“…Abby is noteworthy because her extensive experience in urban schools as part of this peer tutoring project and other projects available at her university has clearly affected her thinking about urban schools and urban students. In this way, her experiences provide support for the contention that extensive time and engagement in urban schools-outside of the student teaching experience-can be useful for teacher candidates (Breitborde, 2002;Groulx, 2001).…”

“…tions of urban students, schools, and learning have already been pre-formed before entering an urban classroom (Bell, 2002;Breitborde, 2002;Valli, 1995). Some have promoted extensive clinical experience for teacher candidates (Brindley & Emminger, 2000;Calderhead, 1988;Leland & Harste, 2005;Rushton, 2000), arguing also for informal ÔexposureÕ to these environments, outside of the formalized student teaching experience, to ensure that candidates begin to understand more deeply issues related to teaching in urban environments (Breitborde, 2002;Groulx, 2001).…”

“…Some have promoted extensive clinical experience for teacher candidates (Brindley & Emminger, 2000;Calderhead, 1988;Leland & Harste, 2005;Rushton, 2000), arguing also for informal ÔexposureÕ to these environments, outside of the formalized student teaching experience, to ensure that candidates begin to understand more deeply issues related to teaching in urban environments (Breitborde, 2002;Groulx, 2001). Further, it is important to understand teachersÕ perceptions and expectations of students because these have been shown to affect how they enact instruction (Jamar & Pitts, 2005;Ladson-Billings, 1997), particularly in urban settings.…”

Representing context in video records of practice for urban mathematics teacher education

“…It also seems possible that video records of teaching could serve as grist for reflection on one's relationship to urban schools and students, thus opening up discussions about those discourses. Furthermore, evidence suggests that prospective teachers can develop their capacities for noticing, problematizing, and analyzing aspects of practice and their understanding of the complexity of the sociopolitical organization of schooling in urban contexts, when explicit attention is paid to these issues (Breitborde 2002;Groulx 2001;Oakes et al 2002). Research on using representations of teaching for these purposes is minimal (de Freitas and Zolkower 2009, do use transcripts of teaching events) and further research is needed on the affordances and challenges of using video records to name, examine, and contest prevailing discourses.…”

“…Cultural competence is a central characteristic of effective urban teaching (Banks et al 2005;Oakes et al 2002). Research on urban teacher education has shown that prospective teachers have formed beliefs and perceptions of urban schools and students prior to entering an urban classroom (Breitborde 2002) that reflect stereotypes about low student motivation, low student ability, school security, and lack of parental involvement (Gilbert 1997). These beliefs are significant for mathematics teaching, in that teachers with low expectations of urban and minority students may feel that rote instruction and an emphasis on basic skills best serve them, thus denying them opportunities for engaging in powerful, critical mathematical thinking (Walker 2007).…”