We're Actually Comfortable with Diversity: Affirming Teacher Candidates for Culturally Relevant Reading Pedagogy in Urban Practicum

This article chronicles the perspectives of two teacher candidates who displayed comfort with cultural issues and teaching for social justice, in contrast with many of their peers in the program who were uncomfortable with diversity. Their field experiences in a piloted urban reading practicum are documented, as part of a partnership with a neighboring urban community school district. The modified program was intended to prepare teacher candidates for the urban teaching context and culturally relevant literacy teaching. Teacher candidates were placed with caring teachers in urban metro-Detroit schools who employed a variety of skills-based and whole language pedagogies, which corresponded with beliefs posited by the university, and within the parameters of curriculum constraints. Participation in the program incorporated a tutoring model, which required teacher candidates' active, systematic enactment of the balanced reading approach with students enrolled in the classrooms of cooperating teachers. Response journals, interviews, pre- and postsurveys, and celebration essays were implemented to document teacher candidates' affirmation toward teaching in an urban setting.