Preparing preservice teachers to educate in an urban setting: A residential program approach
by Wenhart, Alison Dianne, Ed.D., ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY, 2008, 160 pages; 3339589

Abstract:

By analyzing the experiences of the 2007-2008 Kansas City Residential Internship Program's interns, this study aims to provide insight into the realities of teaching in the urban setting of Kansas City, Missouri. It illustrates the current issues that are occurring within the district as reported by the interns, and it attempts to determine what skills and attitudes are necessary to be a successful teacher within that specific setting.

The Kansas City Residential Internship Program (KCRIP) was specifically designed to support educators who desire to teach in the urban setting. The interns are integrated into the community through the use of mentors, supplementary educational workshops, and a group living environment within the city. The program strives to encourage pre-service teachers to work in the city, with the aim of ultimately alleviating the teacher shortage in the area. The teacher shortage is alleviated by providing each of the pre-service teachers a classroom to run initially as an emergency-certified educator. The emergency-certified educator is daily supported by a mentor until she achieves teacher certification.

The participants of the study included 19 pre-service teachers who had fulfilled certification requirements in Missouri, with the exception of meeting the student teaching experience requirement. The Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory was administered as a pre- and post-test to the participating pre-service teachers to measure changes in attitude and beliefs during their internship. In addition, the interns submitted weekly reflections of their daily experiences within their classrooms. Finally, structured interviews were conducted with six of the interns on three separate occasions.

The data was triangulated to verify information collected from the interns as discussion points emerged from the data. Upon completion of the qualitative data analysis, the findings revealed that the KCRIP interns identified three themes as areas in which they needed more support and education from the KCRIP in order to be prepared to teach in Kansas City, Missouri: (a) communication, (b) management, and (c) mentors.

 
Advisor
SchoolARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY
SourceDAI/A 69-12, p. , Jan 2009
Source TypeDissertation
SubjectsTeacher education; Higher education
Publication Number3339589
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