Our research is guided by the aim to use counterstories pedagogically in teacher education. We report on counterstory-based parent teacher conference simulations, where composite case narratives support teacher candidates in taking up asset-based perspectives. Our work rests upon the assertion that asset-based framing must not remain purely…

We share findings from a qualitative study of the tensions experienced as facilitators of an urban education fellowship program in which we brought preservice teachers into activist educator communities. We analyzed field notes, analytic memos, artifacts, and transcripts from group meetings, interviews, and video blogs. Findings revealed four…

Drawing on our experiences as teacher educators in two programs designed specifically to prepare teachers for particular contexts, this article illustrates how we design our courses to help new teachers link foundational understandings to specific teaching practices in particular school and classroom contexts. We describe our integrated approach,…

This article presents the results of a mixed-methods study that examined how state policy requiring the use of high-stakes teacher performance assessments (TPAs) affected candidates enrolled in urban teacher preparation programs in the Midwest. The data reveal that despite institutional pass rates above the national average, the edTPA process…

The goal of this study was to examine how educational leaders help to create and support or inhibit culturally sustaining pedagogical practices for Black educators. The study explored the Black teacher experience at one Northern California public school in Oakland, California. I wanted to understand how they were supported or inhibited in the use…

While it is nationally recognized that there is a high need for teachers, particularly those of diverse backgrounds and with ESL/bilingual certifications, barriers to certification continue to exist for undocumented individuals. Within the state of New Jersey, these barriers mirror the national limitations. Although New Jersey has made efforts to…

The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of urban secondary math and science teachers, administrators, and district personnel regarding the factors that influence secondary math and science teachers with more than five years of teaching experience to remain in urban Title I districts. The participants were interviewed to gain their…

With concern to critical pedagogy, the concept of love is fairly frequently (ab)used, yet under-theorized. In this exploratory study, I ask: How does a critical pedagogy of love--or critical pedagogical love--"look," "sound," and "feel?" Regarding feeling, how does a critical pedagogue engage the sensations of…

For approximately 50 years, music education scholars have purported the need for more diversity training among preservice music teachers. This call has become increasingly urgent as contemporary preservice music teachers encounter the most ethnically and culturally diverse classrooms in public school history. Although preservice music teachers may…

This article uses three tenets of critical race theory to critique the common pattern of teacher education focusing on preparing predominantly White cohorts of teacher candidates for racially and ethnically diverse students. The tenet of interest convergence asks how White interests are served through incremental steps. The tenet of color…

In this essay, we describe our path toward a shared understanding of a love-based onto-epistemic orientation to de/coloniality. Our exploration includes the negotiation of our intersectional and entangled identities, subject positions, and understandings of research ethics in education. A de/colonial sensibility is critical in urban educational…

Although the ubiquitous nature of whiteness has been scrutinized in research on teacher preparation in the United States, scholarship on how this concept impinges upon the field's overall culture, as well as on pedagogy, is scarce. Thus, I perform a critical autoethnographic study on the relationships among whiteness, pedagogy, and urban teacher…

Over 30 years ago, Feiman-Nemser and Buchmann (1985) wrote about "pitfalls of experience" in teacher education. In the current study, I share vignettes of three student teachers engaged in an urban teacher preparation program to highlight how these pitfalls are still operating--and are arguably even more problematic--as we prepare…

Despite the abundance of literature that attests to a myriad of complex and entrenched problems within urban education, the authors of this forum maintain that in addition to shedding light on oppressive structures and ideologies, critical pedagogues must remain steadfastly engaged in solution-oriented endeavors. Using Cheryl McLaughlin's…

Reformers are increasingly calling for and adopting practice-based approaches to teacher preparation, with particular emphasis on identifying and centering core practices. In this article, we argue that organizing teacher education around core practices brings its own risks, including the risk of peripheralizing equity and justice. Situating our…