Title: An Innovative Strategy for Support of Student Teachers in Secondary Urban Schools: A Description of an Exploratory Project.
Abstract: MF01/PC01 Plus Postage. *Classroom Techniques; Cooperating Teachers; Educational Innovation; Faculty Mobility; Interpersonal Relationship; Mentors; Secondary Education; *Secondary School Teachers; *Student Teachers; *Teacher Education; Teacher Supply and Demand; Teaching Methods; Urban Schools; *Urban Teaching The inadequate preparation of urban teachers contributes to the high rate of teacher attrition in city schools. This paper describes an attempt to alleviate the rapid turnover of urban teachers through a project that helped secondary urban student teachers become effective. In the spring semester of 1993, a teacher educator, an Urban Practicum Adv;sor (UPA), led seminars and worked with one male and six female student teachers. The UPA was a consultant and support person and served as an adjunct to each student teaching triad of student t.tacher, secondary school, and school of education. Seminars thronhout the semester focused on classroom management techniques. Corperating teachers found these student teachers to be effective classroom managers, and student teachers appreciated the work of the UPA and found the program helpful. Students also appreciated that their relationships with the UPA were vol:tional and free of organizational demands for evaluation or supervision. All participants felt that the UPA provided a wider variety of methods and techniques for dealing with issues of urban classroom management than did their college supervisors. (SLD) ****i,A:.**************************************************************** * Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made * * from the original document. * *********************************************************************** (1n Innovative Strategy for Support of Student Teachers in Secondary Urban Schools: A Description of an Exploratory Project U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) IR 'Shis document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it C Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction Quality Points of view. or opinions Silted in this docUment do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy Don E. Matus School of Education University of Massachu-;etts Amherst, Massachusetts PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE THIS MAT RIAL HAS BIN GRANTED BY 1-vs L. 6k,w TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Paper pre..ented at the annual conference of the New En9l1nd rducational Re!.-:ealch Organization, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, May, 1995. 2 BEST COPY AVAILABLE An Innovative Strategy for Support of Student Teachers in Secondary Urban Schools: A Description of an Exploratory Project Mot3t of the urban teacher education programs v:lich existed during the past thirty years are defunct. Even those considered very successful no longer exist. Because of the demise of urban teacher training programs, current teacher education programs now serve as a preparation for urban teachers. However, according to the Association of Teacher Educators, these generic programs are inadequate as a preparation for urban teachers (Buttery, Haberman, & Houston, 1990). Martin Haberman considers them a waste of time (1907). According to Haberman (1987), the average career of an urban teacher is between three and five years and in every five year period, approximately one-half of the urban teaching force leaves the profession. As a result, there is a teachei shortage in the nation's 120 largest urban school districts (Habeiman, 1967). The lack of specific urban teacher education programs and the inadequacy of current teacher education programs as a preparation for urban teachers have contributed to this high rate of urban teacher attrition. This paper describes one attempt to alleviate this situation. P,Irtly because of an urban teacher shortage, most vacancies exit in large urban school districts. Many newly certified teachers will begin their careers in large inner-city schools. Many of those novice teachers, who lack adequate urban teacher preparation, be overwhelmed by the problems associated with urban teaching. Pr ab I ems such as !-Judent.-' antaoonism towards school, their lack of respect for themselves and their teachers, poor
Publication Year: 1995
Publication Date: 1995-05-01
Language: en
Type: article
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