Self-Studies in Urban Teacher Education: An Introduction

Abstract

This chapter serves as an introduction to this volume. Urban schools in the United States often reflect the confluence of social issues, challenges, and opportunities that confront individuals and communities in the twenty-first century. Given the breadth of cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic diversity characteristic of urban communities, teachers in these settings are challenged to provide meaningful and relevant learning experiences to a diverse body of P-12 students. Thus, teacher education must prepare teachers to engage in pedagogical practices and to possess dispositions that are inclusive, affirmative, and responsive to the learning and socio-emotional needs of urban students. Such work serves to not only support the academic learning of P-12 urban students, but can also facilitate an equitable education. This chapter provides an overview of urban schooling and urban education in the United States. Features of the urban context are discussed in relation to pedagogy and the institutional context of urban schools. The chapter discusses the role of teacher education in relation to preparing educators for urban schools. It establishes the relevance and necessity for teacher education research and, more specifically, for self-study research, in urban teacher education. The chapter provides a synthesis of prior self-study research that has attended to urban education. It concludes with a discussion of the self-studies collected in this volume and highlights the insights put forth by the contributing authors.