Urban Teacher World: Teacher Recruitment from Theory to Practice

Background: The University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s (UWM) Urban Teacher World Pre-College Academy works with American high school students to explore what it means to be an educator in the urban context.High school students from underrepresented groups reside at the UWM campus to work with university faculty, staff and students to explore careers in education. In so doing, the participants experience education beyond the traditional classroom. Aims: One of the School of Education’s recruitment initiatives, this program encourages students of color to explore potential careers in education.Twenty-one high school students read, wrote plays, created multimedia art, and performed together to investigate what it means to be an educator in the 21st century. Attendees identified potential careers and university majors leading to occupations in the field of education. Arguments: Through close mentoring relationships between high school students, college students, and university faculty and staff, pre-college programs attract underrepresented people to the field education. These relationships support underrepresented people to identify as successful college attendees. Given the teacher shortage and the lack of success to recruit people of color to the ranks of professional educators, pre-college programs are another route universities should consider. Conclusion: This collaboration addressed the School of Education’s goal of increasing the diversity of its student body an