Urban Education Program Fills A Need
January 10, 2001
The second grader keeps taking his shoes off and putting them back on. The girl in the seat across from him is grouchy and finding it hard to concentrate. Obviously, it’s two more cases of attention deficit disorder, right?

Well, maybe in some schools, but Darlene Watkins and many other first-year public school teachers are discovering that the diagnosis here is more complicated. The young boy fidgets because his shoes are two sizes too small, and the girl can’t concentrate because her family’s food stamps have been cut and she’s hungry.

Situations like these are frequently, although not exclusively, encountered in urban schools, including those in Philadelphia. And fourteen new teachers - all graduates of the Urban Early and Middle Childhood Education program at Penn State Delaware County - feel they are better equipped to cope with these problems because of the nature of the Penn State curriculum.

Twenty-nine students graduated from this program last spring (the largest class ever) and fourteen of them are now teaching in the Philadelphia School District, including the Belmont School and the John Barry School.

Darlene Watkins, a 3rd grade teacher at the Belmont School, finds her Penn State education invaluable as she copes with problems of the urban classroom. "Nothing compares to on-the-job experience, but I came better equipped to handle the problems," she said. "I think teachers with an urban education background are more likely to stay in the city schools. My hope is that more come and don’t leave."

"A unique aspect of this program, available exclusively at Penn State Delaware County, is its highly intensive field-based focus," said Dr. Grace Stanford, assistant professor of education at Penn State Delaware County. "As early as the students’ junior year, they will observe classes and participate in daily activities in a school in the Philadelphia area. The mission of the Urban Ed program is to give the potential teacher an understanding of the unique realities the urban individual, family, and community face."

The reality of something as simple as walking to school past crack houses and remnants of recent violence and homelessness, can have a major impact on the child’s life. "But among the desolation there are families who are deeply concerned, administrators with close ties to the community, and bright talented young teachers coming into the urban school," Stanford said.

Watkins, whose love of teaching is evident as she talks about her first year experience at Belmont, is honest about the challenges she faces daily working in the Philadelphia school system, including lack of resources and lack of parental involvement. "It forces you to be creative," she said. "If you don’t have visual aids and other materials to teach mathematics, you have the children become numbers and group themselves into math orders and structures. You also work hard to arrange field trips to expose them to experiences they normally do not have access to." she said.

Watkins also notes that most of the parents are caring and concerned and do try their best, but the majority are working and it’s difficult for them to be involved. I’m working on alternative ways to reach them too, Watkins said.

Watkins feels that today’s urban teachers have to take on the role of social worker, nurturer, role model, as well as educator. "Many new teachers don’t understand the commitment of time, energy, and effort that’s needed to work in an urban school," she said. She feels a closer collaboration among universities, public schools, and the communities they serve is essential to teacher preparedness and student teacher field experience.

Stressing the need for teachers to be role models, Stanford cites Curtis Fisher, a fellow Penn State graduate and former classmate of Watkins. Fisher completed his student teaching requirements at the John Barry School with an additional difficulty: Fisher is blind. Fisher’s creativity and inventiveness inspired not only his students, but other school employees as well, including Andrew Little, the Barry school’s security officer.

Little said he often watched Fisher teach his lessons in utter amazement. "He moved about the classroom with his cane, delivering the lesson in his soft but direct voice. You could not imagine, if you were just walking by the classroom hearing the small chatter of the children participating in the lesson, that Mr. Fisher is blind," said Little.

Like Watkins, Fisher’s job of keeping his kids involved and interested was difficult, but he handled it just as any teacher would. Fisher explained how he could ‘hear’ his students working and he would praise them for it, motivating the others to work just as hard. "Challenge yourselves and strive toward your goals despite the set-backs and barriers along the way," Fisher tells his students.

The issues Fisher and Watkins struggle with are very familiar to Marcy Kaufman, who has observed many student teachers at Barry Elementary. Kaufman, a second grade teacher who has been at Barry for the past eight years, is also one of Penn State’s cooperating teachers and one the urban ed program’s strongest supporters. "Urban students present a number of unique difficulties for teachers. Some parents are unemployed, some are in jail, some are missing. Many of the students are homeless and must live in foster homes," she said. "These kids have a lot on their minds."

What Kaufman sees as the difference between teachers graduating with the traditional education degree and those with Penn State Delco’s Urban Education degree is an awareness, tolerance, and flexibility. Many of Kaufman’s student teachers, without the urban ed advantage, don’t understand the complexities and disadvantages of poverty and urban blight, and aren’t prepared for the urban experience.

"Urban educated teachers are much more aware of situations that can occur in the classroom and outside," she said. "The teachers must get to know the neighborhood, community, and families, and to recognize the many good things the urban experience contributes to the child. "These children live in a community enriched in culture and heritage. Most parents will do anything to help their children succeed in school, but it can be very difficult for them," Kaufman said. "Many parents are children raising children."

Marcy feels not only do the children benefit from the urban ed experience, but so do the teachers. The families have embraced Kaufman, inviting her to their homes for dinner and even to an adoption party. "I have gained something very special and life enriching from my urban education experience," Kaufman said.

Watkins is in heartfelt agreement with Kaufman. Her childhood dream of becoming a teacher has finally been realized. And, even though this is her first year, Watkins has not only given much to her students but she has already gotten so much in return. "If you can reach just one student, you’ve made a difference. Personally, I feel I am reaching more than just one," Watkins said. "Sometimes it’s the spark in their eyes or their enthusiasm that let’s me know what I do matters. You have to celebrate small successes along with the big ones."

Contact: Deborah Blanton, University Relations, Delaware County Campus, 610 892 1252 or by email at dyb5@psu.edu