African American Pre-Service Teachers’ Perspectives on Urban Education: An Exploration at an HBCU

Abstract

This paper aims to better understand African American pre-service teachers’ perspectives on urban education. Over a 2-year period, pre-experience and post-experience surveys were conducted at a Historically Black University (HBCU) after pre-service teachers completed an urban education immersion course in order to frame their understanding of perspectives on urban education. Ultimately, the results indicate that the African American pre-service teachers’ perceptions of urban teachers, urban administrators, and a career in urban education were statistically more positive after the immersion course, but their views of urban parents became more negative. These results provide further implications for teacher education programs.