Disrupting their frame of reference: teacher candidates in alternative education settings

ABSTRACT

Despite a growing population of students being served in Alternative Education Settings (AES) and a severe teacher shortage in AES, most traditional teacher preparation programs do not specifically address teaching in alternative settings. Unsurprisingly, teachers in these settings report being inadequately prepared to meet the complex needs of students with significant behavioral challenges. Moreover, when behaviorally challenged students exit AES, they are often at a greater social and academic disadvantage than when they enrolled. This grounded theory study followed three groups (N = 40) of teacher candidates as they completed fieldwork in one of five AES as part of a special education course at a large public university in South-eastern Pennsylvania. Analysis of teacher candidates' field journals suggested an emerging theory of ‘alternative education settings as non-schools.’ For these teacher candidates, familiar structures for teaching, learning, and behaviour did not apply in AES, thus delegitimizing AES as schools.

KEYWORDS:

• Alternative education settings
• teacher candidates
• grounded theory
• behavioral challenges

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. We use the term students with behavioral challenges to describe students who chronically demonstrate maladaptive behaviors such as verbal and/or physical aggression, defiance, and withdrawal, all behaviors that can compromise a student’s ability to succeed in the general education setting. We purposefully do not use terminology related to special education diagnosis (e.g. emotionally disturbed or intellectual disability) as students may or may not qualify for special education services and if so, the student’s disability label is not known, nor of importance to this study.

2. Pennsylvania was placed under the supervision of the U.S. Justice department stemming from a complaint by the Education Law Center regarding widespread discriminatory practices, including disproportionate placement of students with IEPs, in Pennsylvania’s large alternative education system (Mezzacappa, 2019).

3. IRB Protocol ID #20,190,415 F

4. While all students in the course participated in field placements, not all students were placed in AES. Participants in this study were limited to those in AES.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Lesley N. Siegel

Lesley N. Siegel, PhD, is an Assistant Professor at West Chester University of Pennsylvania where she teaches courses on special education, research methods, and culturally responsive practices. Her current scholarship includes the experiences of LGBTQ faculty and preservice teachers, the use of qualitative data analysis for teacher reflection, and teacher identity formation.

Kristina M. Valtierra

Kristina M. Valtierra, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Education at Colorado College and Associate Chair of the Education Department. Her research examines urban teacher preparation with focus on promoting teacher reflection, teacher identity, and teacher thrival. She is the author of Teach and Thrive: Wisdom from an Urban Teachers Career Narrative, co- author of Schooling Multicultural Teachers: A Guide to Program Assessment and Professional Development and two-time recipient of the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum (AATC) distinguished article award for her scholarship on teacher identity formation.