Jersey City State College (New Jersey) has assumed, as its primary mission, the challenge to address urban concerns, including urban teacher preparation. The revamped Junior Field Experience Program (JFE) is a required course for all prospective teachers. This requirement intends to prepare prospective teachers to deal with cultural diversity by becoming familiar with students and conditions in urban schools, and it encourages students to consider urban teaching as a career option. Prospective teachers examine the pedagogical, social, and political issues that are raised when an abstract commitment to treating all students respectfully is placed in the context of the urban school. All JFE students observe urban elementary and secondary schools in the one semester course and are assigned to a cooperating teacher for 6 weeks, in areas of certification, for a full day each week. Students keep journals in which to reflect on what has been learned about teaching and learning, and seminars are conducted to encourage students to share experiences, to learn from one another, and critically to examine what has been observed. Evaluations indicate that early field experience in urban schools diminishes stereotypes and fear, while energizing and challenging students with new insights about themselves. (LL)