Teacher Preparation Pedagogy, Community-Based

The primary intention of community-based teacher education is to provide prospective teachers with experience in the communities they may serve. Found in many teacher education programs, this approach has commanded a particular level of urgency and articulated focus in the preparation of teachers for diverse communities. In this context, the lives and experiences of prospective teachers may differ dramatically from those of the children they may serve. A deliberate effort to support these teachers in learning about diverse communities can help them become more effective. The development of cultural competence, an emerging critical consciousness, an understanding of families, an awareness of community resources and challenges, and an understanding of structural inequality are some of the goals of community-based preparation.

There are a number of approaches to community-based teacher preparation. Some approaches engage communities as partners, others are situated within community service, and still others frame the community as a site of investigation. None of these approaches is productive, in and of itself, but all of them may become valuable with careful pedagogical design. This entry provides an overview of the pedagogies commonly found among various community-based approaches. They are organized within the categories of (1) experiential pedagogies, (2) pedagogies of mediation, and (3) self-study pedagogies.