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If given the choice, would we, as teacher educators, enter the profession again? Would we embark on a career that is faced with an antagonistic national context that has permeated nearly every aspect of a teacher’s existence – from the media to the teachers’ lounge, from the lack of support from parents to the lack of respect from students, from the misguided policies and accountability demands to the blanket, uncreative curriculum? How can we, as teacher educators who are doubting our own place in the field, reasonably expect to make a difference in the careers of our graduates? This chapter explores how and why the preparation of English Language Arts teachers must focus on three tenets in the present context for education: Advocacy, Humanity, and Hope. By examining different approaches that both authors have used with teacher candidates through multiple vignettes, we will create a deeper understanding of both the realities our new teachers face and the ways in which they can efficaciously face those realities and help reclaim the profession of teaching. Our work will be grounded in a blended framework of critical pedagogy and progressivism and thus examine these vignettes through that collective lens.

This chapter offers an original conceptualization of co-mentoring – situated in the wider literature – together with evidence of its impact and factors facilitating impact across applications of co-mentoring in transnational schooling contexts. Co-mentoring is an alternative to more traditional, hierarchical, and unidirectional approaches to mentoring in education. Extending the extant literature on collaborative mentoring (or “comentoring”), co-mentoring is a collaborative, compassionate, and developmental relationship – informed by specific approaches to mentoring and coaching – that is intended to support participants' professional learning, development, effectiveness, and well-being, and potentially improve their workplace cultures. Detailing three different applications of co-mentoring across the United Kingdom and United States, the chapter evidences the realization of these intended outcomes (professional learning, etc.), and highlights factors found to be instrumental in facilitating the positive impacts of co-mentoring. We end with recommendations for undertaking research and practice that build human and organizational capacity through co-mentoring. A takeaway is that intentional approaches to co-mentoring can have value for participating parties and broader impact, as well as wide applicability.

This case study aims to examine the discourses of Early Children Education (ECE) curriculum and preservice teachers’ teaching practicum in Hong Kong to explore issues of developing preservice teachers as leaders for their future career. Adopting the qualitative case study methodology, semistructured interviews and documentation were mainly used for data collection to address the following research questions: (a) To what extent are preservice teachers in ECE in Hong Kong aware of the needs of leadership development for their future career? (b) To what extent are the preservice teachers in ECE in Hong Kong able to be developed as leaders in the process of teacher education? (c) What are factors influencing the leadership development of preservice teachers in preschools in Hong Kong? Documents such as program handbooks, field experience handbooks, and student participants’ teaching portfolios were collected for analysis. Both teacher educators and preservice teachers were invited for individual interviews to reflect on their experiences of supervising or participating in teaching practicum. The findings revealed that both teacher educators and preservice teachers were aware of the importance of developing preservice teachers as leaders. The teaching practicum provided various opportunities for preservice teachers to develop leadership skills. However, personality and learning experiences provided in the curriculum will also impact on leadership development. This study also informs policymakers, curriculum developers, and teacher educators about possible curriculum changes and potentials of developing preservice teachers as leaders for their future career.

Research studies indicate African American males face multiple and reinforcing obstacles by choosing to pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related majors and professions. Though participation in STEM fields has increased, African American males remain underrepresented in STEM academic programs and occupations as a whole, and in the computing sciences specifically. In the STEM field of computing sciences, isolation, inadequate advisement, among other complex factors, perpetuate the underrepresentation and low persistence of African American males in academic programs. Utilizing viable social identity and communities of practice as theoretical underpinnings, this qualitative study into the lives of aspiring and current African American male computer scientists produced findings that illuminate the significance of what I call STEMfluences, or social interactions that promote socialization, STEM identity, confidence, and success in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics related disciplines like the computing sciences, and promote persistence through degree attainment in homogeneous, unwelcoming STEM academic environments. These STEMfluences are social constructs that include positive peer interactions and modeling, parental and familial nurturing, and multifaceted mentorship.

Black faculty members navigating the tenure process in higher educational settings, especially historically Black colleges or universities (HBCU), quickly learn within their careers that the job at hand requires a lot of time, energy, and persistence. Extant literature highlights the difficulties Black scholars face in such settings; however, it is vital to shedding light on the positive aspects that occur daily. This chapter highlights a component of collaboration that is often under shadowed in the educational setting, the faculty–graduate student partnership. Given the lack of resources and infrastructural elements that often plague HBCUs, in comparison to other institutions, faculty members inadvertently and unconsciously establish partnerships with advanced undergraduate and graduate students. Without the assistance of young, emerging scholars, tenure-earning faculty may struggle with maintaining a healthy work–life balance. Moreover, forging strong partnerships with mentees aids in faculty and student development alike. This narrative encompasses the views, experiences, and perceptions of a young, tenure-earning faculty member. Additionally, past and present graduate students provide insight on perceptions of faculty–student interactions and their subsequent development as scholars, researchers, and clinicians.

This chapter outlines the efforts of two tenure-earning faculty members in distinctly different disciplines. Those navigating through a Historically Black College and University (HBCU) context face a unique set of challenges relative to institutional infrastructure that lends support for teaching, student development, research implementation, and scholastic activities. To address these shortfalls, the authors took action by implementing a novel and collaborative course redesign. While these efforts aimed to enrich existing course instruction, develop undergraduate students' research and teaching pedagogy, and provide culturally relevant teaching services to a partnering primary education institution, early incidents that emerged from the redesign revealed the utility of affording students such as innovative research experience (RE). The authors developed the novel assignment in accordance with Florida A&M University's Quality Enhancement Program, #WriteOnFAMU, which seeks to create a culture in which students become actively engaged in their learning through writing proficiency. Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) supports high-impact practices, undergirded by multiple opportunities for students to participate in cocurricular writing opportunities.

Moreover, the cross-curricular integrative writing approach implemented by the instructors of these courses (the authors) provided students enrolled in the Colleges of Education and the College of Social Sciences, Arts, & Humanities a unique opportunity to become actively engaged in a multidisciplinary approach to learning. The assignment not only enhanced students' writing proficiency but also broadened their exposure to content area knowledge, afforded students an opportunity to synthesis materials across disciplines, and allowed for critical analysis relative to an action-based, translational RE. The collaborative research assignment entailed two major objectives: the developed project was to (1) improve elementary education preservice students' lesson plan writing and implementation proficiency and (2) develop emerging psychology students' ability to produce and implement an action-based research project within the realm of Social Psychology. Students enrolled in RED3013 (Teaching Reading and Diagnosing its Growth) and SOP3003 (Social Psychology) worked collaboratively to complete the course requirements. Throughout the chapter, the authors describe how this teaching approach aided in faculty and student development. The narrative elaborates on tenure-earning elements of teaching and service via peer collaboration. Additionally, the authors highlight the scanty resources that create pitfalls for affording students opportunities to develop as researchers.

Drawing upon findings from the International Study of Principal Preparation and scholarly literature this chapter presents an analysis of predominant principal preparation experiences. Formal, informal, and experiential leadership development opportunities are identified and discussed in relation to their advantages and disadvantages in preparing novice and aspiring school leaders to take up their exacting roles in 21st century schooling environments. We conclude by advocating for a range of preparation experiences that are continued throughout leaders' careers and for authorities to consider measuring the effectiveness of these programs to ensure maximum impact for the expense expended.

President Obama’s policies, while broad in scope, offer some specific attention to college and career readiness (CCR) and are necessary for urban youth to realize their career potentials. However, by primarily defining CCR in terms of academic achievement, many of the previously mentioned policies ignore the varied college access skills needed to ensure successful preparation for, enrollment in, and graduation from postsecondary institutions.

This chapter explores the current definition of CCR represented in the Obama administration’s policies, while also expanding the definition to include missing policy pieces related to college access.

The underutilization of school counselors and classroom teachers as college access facilitators who can expand CCR for urban schools is addressed. The paper discusses recent Obama administration initiatives and recommendations for urban schools and higher education institutions.

The administration initiatives and recommendations recently put in place by the Obama administration for urban schools and higher education institutions, if integrated within urban schools, may facilitate the realization of one of President Obama’s educational reform goals of ensuring that every student graduates from high school well prepared for college and a career.