Student Teaching for a Specialized View of Professional Practice? Opportunities to Learn in and for Urban, High-Needs Schools

This article presents findings from a qualitative study of first-year elementary teachers who assessed the strengths and weaknesses of their preservice student teaching experiences vis-à-vis their inservice realities. Specifically, the study explores opportunities to learn across student teaching placements and analyzes the degree to which placements present participants with equitable opportunities to build a specialized view of professional practice—one that can support them to enact in urban, high-needs schools the kind of practices that research suggests are crucial to the academic success of historically underserved students. Findings highlight the importance of providing preservice teachers with examples of “what’s possible” in the face of tightly regulated, accountability-driven policies. The authors conclude with suggestions for teacher educators concerning the reorganization of student teaching and the strategic mediation of preservice teachers’ learning to ensure that all preservice teachers receive equitable opportunities to learn in and through their placements in the field.