Teachers Begin Developing Socio-Cultural Awareness in Early Field Experiences

The research presented in this paper is a two-year, action research project examining the impact of early field experiences on teachers placed in low-income, urban schools and communities. The undergraduate pre-service students were concurrently enrolled in social foundations of education and educational psychology courses. Qualitative data including reflection journals and a range of class work chronicles teacher’s thoughts, feelings, and actions as they struggled to tutor or complete projects with diverse elementary school children. The researchers found that faculty-facilitated early field experiences combined with social foundations course content helped early teachers in developing a ‘teacher persona’ and gaining a more critical understanding of the impact of culture and diversity on teaching and learning early in their education program.