Miami immersion in OTR prepares new generation of urban school teachers

Educational research has suggested that students in difficult situations - facing poverty, from underfunded urban schools - benefit from working with better teachers. The concept makes sense, but application isn't always the easiest. Many of those high-performing teachers were able to attend good universities thanks in part to their experiences in good primary and secondary schools. They may have the knowledge and theoretical skills to teach well, but the cultural gap between their and their students' experiences can prevent quality learning from taking place.

Urban teaching is a lot different than suburban teaching or rural teaching," says Annette Digirolamo, a third-grade teacher at Rothenberg Preparatory Academy in Over-the-Rhine. "There's a big, big difference in training, or should be."

Miami University is working to do something about this problem, through an innovative, hands-on program. The Urban Teaching Cohort prepares undergraduate students to become effective teachers in urban schools through a combination of education and immersive experiences.

The slogan of UTC director Tammy Schwartz sums up its mission: "Forget no child left behind," she says. "We want every child to absolutely thrive."

Accomplishing this mission through better teaching means preparing teachers from a social - as well as an educational - perspective. The UTC curriculum includes specialized courses on urban teaching and the sociocultural aspects of education in the urban environment. Its highlight, however, is its student teaching and service-learning opportunities: students have the chance to volunteer and work in urban areas from their first year on, and all of their student teaching takes place in urban schools. Students are also encouraged to live in the communities they serve, including an intensive, three-week summer internship.

Along with helping students through housing assistance and placement, the UTC supports its students through intense school and community mentorship networks. For student teachers from rural or suburban backgrounds, this immersion is key to their success as teachers in the nation's urban schools.

According to the program's students, the initiative is working. Students come away with what they say is a much better perspective of - and appreciation for - teaching in the urban environment.

"This program dispels and confronts the myth of what it is to teach in an urban setting," says student teacher Tierionna Morris. "It's one thing to learn from a textbook, it's another to learn from the people you'll be teaching."

For more information on Miami University's Urban Teaching Cohort, visit here.

Writer: Matt Cunningham