"It's Like Professional Food": Sustaining Urban Educators Through Service-Learning

This dissertation examined the assumptions and motivations that shape teachers’ participation in a service-learning practice and community of practice and how their participation affects their professional practice and identity. Framed by Santoro’s (2013) model of teacher integrity, defined as an educators’ ability to teach in alignment with their commitments, it presents an understanding of challenges to participants’ integrity, and how they mitigate those challenges. Heuristically, this project can be understood as the study of two components conducted using an ethnographic perspective over the course of 16 months: (1) the study of the community of practice and (2) the study of how its characteristics manifest in practice. It involved 100 hours of participant observation, 31 interviews, and the collection of artifact data. Data promote service-learning as a vital pedagogy by shedding light on its potential to sustain urban educators whose integrity is challenged by discourses, policies, and practices that emphasize competition and social efficiency rather than more holistic understandings of education as a civic and social good. Findings show how and why urban educators’ professional and personal commitments are intertwined with beliefs about social justice and democracy. Because of their work with student populations underprivileged and marginalized by systemic situations, meeting students’ social and emotional needs, honoring student voice, and teaching citizenship skills were important to participants. Conditions in their urban schools— a lack of curricular autonomy; insufficient time and resources to meet students’ needs; and deficient support systems— challenged participants commitments. As a result, participants were pushed to participate in service-learning and a service-learning community of practice. In addition, several characteristics of the community of practice pulled participants to participate: a framework for integrating quality service-learning into school- or school district-mandated curriculum; pedagogical and emotional supports specifically needed by urban teachers; and recognition that countered discouragingly negative perceptions of urban teachers. These resources and supports helped urban teachers’ fulfill their professional and personal commitments, validated their work, and sustained them in the profession.

Grantor dc:publisher

Temple University. Libraries

Year dc:date.issued

2018

Author dc:creator

• Fornaro, Elisabeth Grace

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Cucchiara, Maia Bloomfield

Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember

• Brooks, Wanda M., 1969-
• Keith, Novella Zett
• Patterson, Timothy
• Fergus, Edward, 1974-

• Education
• Education policy
• Community learning
• Service learning
• Teacher attrition
• Teacher identity
• Teacher professional identity
• Urban education

Statement dc:rights

• IN COPYRIGHT- This Rights Statement can be used for an Item that is in copyright. Using this statement implies that the organization making this Item available has determined that the Item is in copyright and either is the rights-holder, has obtained permission from the rights-holder(s) to make their Work(s) available, or makes the Item available under an exception or limitation to copyright (including Fair Use) that entitles it to make the Item available.

Licence dc:rights.uri

• http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12613/2871

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarshare.temple.edu:20.500.12613/2871