scholarly journals Teacher Education for High Poverty Schools

Author(s):  
Bruce Burnett ◽  
Jo Lampert

A great deal of scholarship informs the idea that specific teacher preparation is required for working in high-poverty schools. Many teacher-education programs do not focus exclusively on poverty. However, a growing body of research emphasizes how crucial it is that teachers understand the backgrounds and communities in which young people and their families live, especially if they are to teach equitably, without bias, and with a critical understanding of historical educational disadvantage. Research on teacher education for high-poverty schools is largely associated with social-justice education and premised on two key assumptions. The first is that teachers do make a difference and should be encouraged to see themselves as agents of change. The second is that without nuanced knowledge of poverty and disadvantage, and especially its intersection with race, teachers are prepared as though all students and all communities have equal social advantage. Through targeted teacher education, social justice teachers aquire the knowledge, skills and attributes to understand what they can and cannot do. Teachers with strong communities of practice and agency can resist the idea that they can eradicate poverty on their own, but can enact teaching in ways that are equitable and respectful, culturally responsive and safe. It is increasingly possible to observe how debates propose or challenge how preservice teachers should learn about high-poverty contexts. There are also numerous models, globally, of what works in preparing teachers for high-poverty schools; however, providing evidence or proving how specialized teacher preparation affects the educational outcomes of high-poverty students is difficult.


2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. i-vii ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Lampert ◽  
◽  
Bruce Burnett ◽  

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 44-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rocio Garcia-Carrion ◽  
◽  
Aitor Gomez ◽  
Silvia Molina ◽  
Vladia Ionescu ◽  
...  

2017 ◽  
Vol 61 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-165 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Lampert ◽  
Bruce Burnett ◽  
Barbara Comber ◽  
Angela Ferguson ◽  
Naomi Barnes

Author(s):  
Tim Sass ◽  
Jane Hannaway ◽  
Zeyu Xu ◽  
David Figlio ◽  
Li Feng

Author(s):  
Krista Steinke ◽  
Valerie C. Bryan

This chapter is a qualitative meta-analysis that discusses the growing trend of teacher attrition in Title I schools. Recent literature on teacher attrition was reviewed and analyzed in combination with literacy theories. This study describes teaching as a form of literacy that the teacher must learn and is based primarily on Gee’s (1989) ideas of discourse acquisition, Freire’s (1993) Pedagogy of the Oppressed, and Delpit’s (1995) The Politics of Teaching a Literate Discourse. The researchers explain, through the lens of literacy theories, how viewing teaching as a form of literacy can help us to understand the problem of attrition. Analyzing the problems faced by these teachers through these theories can provide individuals in the field of education with the means for understanding the challenges that often prevent well-meaning and talented teachers from becoming successful in the high-poverty setting. This study has the potential to bring to light the problem of teacher attrition in Title I schools throughout the nation and promote improvements in teacher education to better prepare upcoming teachers for the challenges that they will face in the Title I school.


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