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School failure among African American high school

ave little or no bearing on the students they teach, although stereotypes abound regarding members of poor and minority groups. Unfortunately, many pre-service teachers feel little need for increasing their own cultural sensitivity: "They tend to live under the false assumption that they can get jobs in homogeneous, suburban school districts" (Willis, 1996, p. 303).

Even when new teachers work in urban schools with large minority enrollments, the work is often seen only as a stepping stone. The white teacher who works in an urban locale commonly transfers to a white, suburban school. Reinstein (1998) describes his first teaching job with an alternative high school for dropouts and teenage mothers on Chicago's west side as an enriching experience. Despite the greater needs at the urban school, he chose to stay at a high school in one of Chicago's wealthy suburbs, "when I think of the additional obstacles for teachers in the city, I find it difficult to leave" (Reinstein, 1998, p. 29). Teachers who serve at urban schools must be prepared to deal with the problems of the inner city as well as educational underfunding.

Teachers will only work effectively with African American students if the teachers enter service with a school improvement mentality. Too many teachers enter the profession with the belief that all that is required is a love for their subject matter, and the ability to transfer this enthusiasm to their students. Teachers in urban schools must also be concerned with school climate and culture. They must be willing to collaborate with their colleagues, and to assume a leadership role where necessary: "schools need to recognize that preparing exceptional future teachers means extending the sites for beginning teacher development beyond the classroom door" (Anderson, Rolheiser, and Gordon, 1998, p. 61). Teachers are the professionals who work closest to students and are thus more aware of their needs. Teachers...

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School failure among African American high school. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 01:27, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1707735.html