Grow your own future: reflections on the past and present of a grow your own teacher program

The national teacher shortage seems to be a never-ending crisis in our country. This shortage is even more alarming for teachers of color. While more than half of the students in the United States are non-white, less than 25 percent of their teachers are people of color (U.S. Department of Education, 2016; Lindsay, Blom, & Tilsley, 2017). Studies have shown that teachers of color are better prepared to teach students of color than white teachers because they can better understand their pupils’ backgrounds, experiences, and culturally unique aspects of their lives (Borrero et al., 2016; Milner, 2006). (Borrero et al., 2016; Milner, 2006)One possible way to remedy this problem is the Grow Your Own (GYO) movement. These programs recruit students from their communities who are interested in working in those communities with the belief that their connections and roots will make them more likely to remain in the profession (Gist, 2018). This movement is especially significant in addressing the lack of teachers of color by emphasizing recruitment, retention, access, support, and school-district-community partnerships. This qualitative study investigated a GYO program that recruited students from high schools in an urban school district to attend a local university on a scholarship that was based on the agreement that they would return to their hometown to teach for a minimum of three years. Interviews were conducted with alumni and former administrators of the now-defunct program to assess this endeavor’s impact. Using the conceptual framework of “othermothering”, the research sought to determine how the program influenced former students’ academic and professional lives. Findings revealed that the program had a substantial impact on its participants. The access, resources, and mentorship provided by the program and its staff significantly contributed to the success of its alumni. Participants cited the family structure, support system, and open-door policy of the program staff as crucial to graduating from college with teacher certification and returning to their hometown to teach. The ethic of care shown to the participants as students is a trait they now share with their students in their own classrooms.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical reference