Abstract
This article discusses urban educators’ views of their teaching experiences. The article is based upon survey research conducted with teachers in two poor, urban districts during the 2005–2006 academic year. The teachers reported a variety of positive and negative views regarding their classrooms, their students, and the students’ social worlds. The data illustrate the importance of classroom processes for the teachers, and how they believed that their students’ social locations, behaviors, and attitudes impede the delivery of educational content. We believe this research raises interesting challenges regarding the need for urban educators to incorporate students’ perspectives into both instructional processes and curriculum content. Furthermore, this research should contribute to the empirical foundation needed for the creation of better teacher preparation programs.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Babbie, E. (1998). The practice of social research (8th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Company.
Dance, L. J. (2002). Tough fronts: The impact of street culture on schooling. New York, NY: Routledge.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2006). Powerful teacher education: Lessons from exemplary programs. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Delpit, L. (1995). Other people’s children: Cultural conflicts in the classroom. New York, NY: The New Press.
Dillman, D. (1978). Mail and telephone surveys: The total design method. New York, NY: Wiley.
Freire, P. (2000). From Pedagogy of the oppressed. In R. F. Reed & T. W. Johnson (Eds.), Philosophical documents in education (pp. 188–202). New York, NY: Addison-Wesley.
Gay, G. (2001). Educational equality for students of color. In J. A. Banks & C. A. Banks (Eds.), Multicultural education: Issues and perspectives (pp. 197–224). New York, NY: Wiley.
Glaser, N., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory. Chicago, IL: Aldine.
Grant, C. A., & Gillette, M. (2006). A candid talk to teacher educators about effectively preparing teachers who can’t teach everyone’s children. Journal of Teacher Education, 57(3), 292–300.
Groulx, J. G. (2001). Changing preservice teacher perceptions of minority students. Urban Education, 36, 60–92.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
Haberman, M. (1996). The pedagogy of poverty versus good teaching. In W. Ayers & P. Ford (Eds.), City kids, city teachers (pp. 118–130). New York, NY: The New Press.
Hollins, E., & Guzman, M. (2005). Research on preparing teachers for diverse populations. In M. Cochran-Smith & K. M. Zeichner (Eds.), Studying teacher education: The report of the AERA panel on research and teacher education (pp. 477–548). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Ingersoll, R. (2001). Teacher turnover, teacher shortages, and the organization of schools. Seattle, WA: University of Washington, Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy.
Kunjufu, J. (2002). Black students. Middle class teachers. Chicago, IL: African American Images.
Ladson-BIllings, G. (1994). The Dreamkeepers: Successful teachers of African American children. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2001). Crossing over to Canaan: The journey of new teachers in diverse classrooms. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Ladson-Billings, G. (2002). I ain’t writin’ nuttin’: Permission to fail and demands to succeed in urban classrooms. In L. Delpit & J. K. Dowdy (Eds.), The skin that we speak: Thoughts on language and culture in the classroom (pp. 107–120). New York, NY: The Albany Press.
Langer, G. (2003). About response rates: Some unresolved questions. Public Perspectives, May/June, 16–18.
Moll, L. C., & Arnot-Hopffer, E. (2005). Sociocultural competence in teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 56(3), 242–248.
Murrell, P. C. (2000). Community teachers: A conceptual framework for preparing exemplary urban teachers. The Journal of Negro Education, 69(4), 338–349.
Ness, M. (2001). Teaching for America revisited. The Key Reporter, 66, 8–10.
Neuman, W. (2000). Social research methods: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon.
Oakes, J., & Lipton, M. (2006). Teaching to change the world (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.
Warring, D. F., Keim, J., & Rau, R. (1998). Multicultural training for students and its impact. Action in Teacher Education, 20, 56–63.
Watson, D., Charner-Lind, M., Kirkpatrick, C., Szczesiul, S., & Gordon, P. (2006). Effective teaching/effective urban teaching: Grappling with definitions, grappling with difference. Journal of Teacher Education, 57, 395–409.
Weiner, L. (2000). Research in the 90s: Implications for urban teacher preparation. Review of Educational Research, 70(3), 369–407.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Smith, D.L., Smith, B.J. Urban Educators’ Voices: Understanding Culture in the Classroom. Urban Rev 41, 334–351 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-008-0108-8
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-008-0108-8