Elementary Education and Teaching Commons^™

Teacher Residency As A Path To Teacher Diversity: Negotiating Tensions In Role And Identity, Jennifer Sharples Reichenberg, Hilary Lochte, Corinne M. Kindzierski, Alayla J. Ende, Diana Maskell, Crystal A. Elias, Julie J. Henry

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This phenomenological qualitative study examined the experiences of graduate-level teacher candidates enrolled in teacher residency programs and serving as teacher aides or assistants (TAs). Some participants were graduate-level teacher candidates already employed as TAs in a large urban district and enrolled in an Urban Pipeline Residency Program, a state-funded diversity initiative designed to increase the number of teachers from underrepresented groups by supporting TAs to pursue teacher certification. Additional participants were enrolled in the Traditional Residency Program and completed residencies in other local districts. Survey and interview data from TA/teacher candidates, mentors, and instructors showed that TA/teacher candidates in both …