Reflecting on the Challenges of Preparing Suburban Teachers for Urban Schools

Abstract

This article shares some of the challenges in preparing suburban preservice teachers at a private college for teaching careers in urban schools. The author describes her challenges as an African American instructor teaching mostly White and female preservice teachers about multicultural issues in urban schools. Many of her preservice teachers resisted some of the issues regarding multicultural education in urban settings. In this article, the author uses qualitative data to explore three possible reasons for preservice teachers' resistance: differing expectations—grappling with students' reactions to the curriculum; pedagogical matters—understanding how teaching practices affect students'resistance; and the culture of power—reflecting on the role the author's ethnicity played in students' reactions to the course. In addition to describing experiences with the multicultural education course, the author provides some possible considerations for administrators and instructors as they prepare suburban preservice teachers for urban teaching environments.