Elementary Preservice Teachers as Warm Demanders in an African American School

The literature related to warm demanding describes teachers who balance care and authority to create a learning environment that supports a culture of achievement for African American students. Embedded in this stance is sociopolitical consciousness that explicitly links teachers’ care and authority with a larger social justice agenda. Drawing on interviews and online course assignments, we describe two preservice teachers’ conceptions and enactments of warm demanding in full-time elementary school internships in an African American elementary school. Findings reveal that although the preservice teachers communicated similar commitments to warm demanding, they enacted the stance differently, suggesting that while warm demanders share similar commitments, their practice may vary. The two cases highlight the promise of teacher education courses and field experiences to be structured in ways that promote the development of teacher aptitudes for strengthening equity and excellence in the education of an historically marginalized population of students

Becoming warm demanders: Perspectives and practices of first-year teachers

In the literature on culturally responsive pedagogy warm demanders are teachers who embrace values and enact practices that are central to their students’ success. Few scholars have examined the experience of novice teachers who attempt to enact this stance. In this study of two first-year, female, European American teachers who attempted to be warm demanders for their predominantly African American elementary school students, the authors answer the question, “How do the teachers think about and enact warm demanding?” The teachers’ contrasting experiences have implications for administrators and teacher educators

The Professional Development Practices of Two Reading First Coaches

To establish job-embedded, ongoing professional development recent policies and initiatives required that districts appoint school-based coaches. The Reading First Initiative, for example, created an immediate need for coaches without a clear definition of coaches’ responsibilities. Therefore, the purpose of this case study was to investigate how two Reading First coaches interpreted and enacted their professional development responsibilities. Cross-case analyses identified similarities and differences in coaches’ enactments. Findings revealed that while each coach engaged in similar professional development responsibilities (e.g. modeling, observing, and classroom walkthroughs) their approach to these responsibilities differed — collaborative versus expert driven. These differences in approaches indicate that the preparation for coaches should include development of knowledge about how teachers learn and methods and strategies for developing and implementing effective professional development within schools

Ross, Dorene D., Action Research for Preservice Teachers: A Description of Why and How, Peabody Journal of Education, 64(Spring, 1987), 131-150.

Reviews the literature on the topic and on guidelines for action research in preservice teacher education

Creating Environments of Success and Resilience: Culturally Responsive Classroom Management and More

Creating safe and productive environments with a diverse student population requires more than the strategies recommended in the original classroom-management literature. Drawing from the literature on culturally responsive classroom management, psychologically supportive classroom environments, and building resilience, the authors describe the practices used by three effective novice teachers in urban elementary classrooms during the first 2 hours of the first day of school. The study was based on videotape and interview data that were qualitatively analyzed using an inductive approach. The novice teachers focused on developing relationships and establishing expectations through the use of “insistence” and a culturally responsive communication style. The study provides clear pictures of the ways in which teachers teach and insist on respectful behavior and establish a caring, task-focused community. As such, it demonstrates how teachers create environments of success and resilience for students who have historically floundered in school

Elementary Interns\u27 Understandings and Enactments of Warm Demanding

Embedded in the culturally relevant teaching literature is an image of the teacher as a “warm demander” whose practices with African American students are characterized by culturally relevant, critical care and authority and an absolute commitment to their students’ learning. While scholars have begun to describe the approach of the warm demander, few have examined the experience of preservice teachers (PSTs) who attempt to cultivate the stance. The purpose of this paper is to explore the warm demander perspectives and practices of two PSTs in full-time, elementary internships. The researchers drew on on-line discussion forum posts, interview and classroom video data to reveal the PSTs’ commitment to warm demanding and the different ways in which they enacted their commitment

Getting Beneath the Surface: Experiences and Challenges of First-Year Teachers Working to Become Warm Demanders

This qualitative study examined the contrasting experiences of two first-year teachers as they worked to become warm demanders in a low-income, predominantly African American school setting. Drawing on interviews, videos, and use of an observation tool, we examine teachers’ definitions of a warm demander, how their teaching practices reflected their beliefs, and the challenges they experienced as they worked to become warm demanders. The authors draw conclusions intended to enhance teacher preparation for high poverty, predominately minority settings