A Review: University Partners Meeting: Making Education Careers in Philadelphia Achievable for Millennials held February 26th at the School District of Philadelphia.

Posted by on April 02, 2014

By Eden Kainer

Acknowledging the unusual challenges related to bridging the transition from academia to career for those students interested in working in urban communities, whether as teachers or in other professional capacities, presenters from West Chester and Arcadia Universities described two separate programs carefully designed to well support students with this interest. Following these presentations, Nicky A. Charles, Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office of the School Reform Commission, spoke about the wide range of potential options for young adults pursuing careers in urban education.

Dr. Vicky McGinley, Professor of Special Education at West Chester University, showcased the Youth Empowerment and Urban Studies (YES) minor. Directed by Dr. Hannah Ashley, a team of West Chester faculty designed an interdisciplinary curriculum that concentrates on cultivating the knowledge, disposition and skills that enable students to be successful in careers in urban education. It is their belief that not only do students need to understand the complex economic, social, cultural and political realities of life in American cities, but they must develop the right kind of personality and skills to meet those realities. By providing students with experiential learning internships directly in urban communities in addition to traditional coursework, this course of study enables students to more readily connect theory to practice as well as develop relationships with schools and communities with whom they may be drawn to work.  Some of their placements include Fell, McCall and Cook-Wissahickon Elementary Schools and Kensington Health Sciences Academy High School. In these schools the West Chester students are working with the intermediary organizations Need In Deed, Youth United for Change and 12 Plus. For more information about the YES minor, please go to: http://www.wcupa.edu/_information/official.documents/undergrad.catalog/youth.htm

Janet Chance, Director of the Office of School and Community Collaborations at Arcadia University, and Arcadia School of Education colleagues, Dr. Jodi Bornstein and Dr. Erica R. Davila, more specifically focused on teacher training and described Arcadia’s new unique school partnerships they have cultivated to create strong student-teacher placements for aspiring teachers. They are currently placing pre-service teachers at two schools in Philadelphia fairly close to Arcadia, Clara Barton, a public K-2, and Wissahickon Charter School, a K-8. Both of these schools have host teachers and administrations that are invested in ongoing dialogue between Arcadia and their school.

The goal of building partnerships for pre-service teaching is to develop the confidence and skills by establishing their presence in schools earlier than in a traditional student teaching program. Because the students spend a full semester in their classroom before assuming the role of student teacher, they are given the opportunity to establish a meaningful presence in the school and are afforded more preparation and planning time than they would have previously in Arcadia’s student teacher program.  The presenters stressed the program’s emphasis on cohort training and a cyclical method of design, practice and reflection, creates important shared experience for the Arcadia students as well as the host teachers. The program thus allows for the development of deeper positive relationships over time between mentor teachers and the mentees. Lastly, these partnerships also allow Arcadia students to become comfortable in school environments that may be new to them. Having more than one semester in an urban elementary school setting such as Clara Barton allows pre-service teachers to not only develop relationships with students and teachers but to become invested in and connected to the families and the community in which they are teaching.

After these two presentations, Nicky A. Charles the Deputy Chief of Staff for the Office of the School Reform Commission responded with a discussion about the myriad kinds of work that one can do in support of education in addition to teaching. While the budgetary constraints are real right now in Philadelphia, Millenials should take note that of the structures that exist within school districts and imagine how they could fit in, whether it be in legal services, volunteer management, facilities management or grant-writing. There are many entry points to a career in education and ultimately it is worth it to persist in searching them out. Another theme that surfaced in the following general discussion was that Millenials might not easily find one clear employment path in the first years out of college. Participation in these kinds of programs may help them more clearly understand the complex landscape of urban education and how they might carve out their own paths within it.

The PHENND University Partners Meeting is an initiative that brings university, nonprofit, and school-based practitioners together around common themes. Goals for this and all future K-16 University Partners meetings are:

· Exposure to new and innovative programs and practices

· Connection of theory to practice

· Introduction to key School District personnel

· Networking