Research in the 90s: Implications for Urban Teacher Preparation

Abstract

In this article I review scholarship in a number of disciplines within education, including psychological and social foundations, policy, instruction and curriculum and analyze implications for urban teacher preparation. I define the distinguishing characteristics of urban school systems, and analyze and synthesize relevant research about the diverse social and political contexts that have influenced urban schools and urban teacher preparation, paying particular attention to implications for the "ecological" paradigm of school reform. I suggest how the challenges in urban teacher preparation in the U.S. have changed in the past decade because of the linkage between education and the economy, as well as alterations in the knowledge base of teaching, especially data about cultural diversity. While a growing consensus has emerged among researchers that learning is enhanced when it occurs in contexts that are socioculturally, linguistically, and cognitively meaningful for the learner, policy has been driven by contradictory assumptions, most importantly the belief that educational outcomes can and must be standardized because of the demands of an increasingly global economy. This contradiction presents new and urgent challenges for urban teacher preparation.