CONNECT . MOTIVATE . INSPIRE .
Aware of the fact that Black students are disproportionately
many new teachers end up leaving the profession, but it is particularly poignant for teachers of color who are not prepared for the systemic racism they are about to encounter. This racism – which is built into all aspects of schooling from unfair discipline policies to unfair tracking policies to culturally biased testing and assessment policies – not only prevents teachers of color from being a strong advocate for their students, but it can also remind them of their own traumatic experiences in school, leaving them feeling frustrated and powerless. JSU candidates shared multiple stories about how they came into the classroom with one set of lesson plans and had to shift midway to truly engage their students and teach their strengths rather than their weaknesses. As one candidate recalled: “I had a student who had ADHD and so he couldn’t just sit still. I was up there teaching them the ABCs. So, I had to incorporate dance moves. We did the
musical chairs ABCs and when it stopped everybody sat down. He had a problem, and he couldn’t just sit down so I tried to put words to the music to differentiate instruction to help this child out.” JSU’s candidates typically give their students more attention by spending more time with them outside of the formal classroom. In fact, JSU teacher candidates are required to do community service during their preparation. What is important to underscore here is that teacher preparation programs at JSU start with the assumption that teachers can have a profound impact on students’ lives and, as such, must be committed to nurturing all aspects of their students’ education by teaching both inside and outside the book, and getting out from behind the desk. As one professor at JSU shared with us, this work is urgent: “We’re at the point in our lives now [where] we know we don’t have time to play games because we know it is
crucial that we prepare our students. It’s not about us. It’s a generational thing. We must teach them. It’s important. You think it’s important because you are going to impact the lives of others.” A candidate in the program echoed this sentiment sharing with us: “I’m interested in teaching because I’m in a spot to develop America’s future. Children are always going to be our future and if we can get to them and teach them while they’re young that they all will be taking over this country eventually and they’re getting into the mindset of I can be a better me and if I’m better I could better my country. So just to be in that position to put them in that mindset and to open their eyes to see that they can be the change in the world is why I want to be a teacher.” Excerpt from Alice Ginsberg, Marybeth Gasman, and Andrés Castro Samayoa, For the Love of Teaching: How Minority Serving Institutions are Diversifying and Transforming Teacher Education (Teachers College Press, 2023).
disciplined when they often just need help or attention, another candidate shared his belief that teachers must have a loving heart: “You’ve got to have a loving heart when you’re teaching peoples’ children. Some of them come from a bad background and school is the only place where they can get someone to show them some attention. So that’s why some of them act badly. I want to be a teacher that loves my kids and when I’m teaching them as well help them learn and not one of those teachers that I’m just here for the paycheck.” As a result of this transparency, JSU Teacher Candidates are less likely to experience what has become known as “praxis shock,” where new teachers are not fully prepared to deal with many of the complex and less-than- ideal realities of teaching in underserved and under resourced schools. Praxis shock is a major reason why
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