The unit must ensure each program has a clear and consistent conceptual framework threaded throughout the program that is research-based, results-oriented, and focused on the skills teachers need to be effective.

The Conceptual Framework undergirding the Urban Teacher Program (UTP) in the School of Urban Education (UED) is derived from our two-fold mission which has guided us since it was adopted in 2003:

• To increase the number of well-prepared teachers of color in Minneapolis, Saint Paul and inner-ring suburbs so that the urban teaching workforce reflects the ethnically diverse population of students and their communities; and
• To empower urban teachers with the content knowledge, pedagogical skills, urban field experiences, and professional dispositions needed to improve the educational achievement of historically and currently underserved urban learners and to advocate for their right to receive a high-quality education.

The Unit’s Conceptual Framework is presented in Figure 1. The conceptual framework of the urban teacher preparation program is based on five principles centered by the premise of “unconditional positive regard” for children and youth as well as teachers. The circles represent the key elements that represent UED’s approach to urban teacher preparation. They are connected as an illustration of how these key characteristics interrelate to result in ethnically diverse and effective urban teachers who have the knowledge, skills and dispositions to improve the achievement of diverse, urban learners.

The conceptual framework supports the School’s mission in guiding programs toward the development of effective teachers for diverse learning communities. This framework is grounded in our core belief that all children and youth deserve well-prepared educators who believe in the learners “in front of them” and view them as having assets to succeed in school and life. The conceptual framework defines and describes the philosophies, research, commitments, and outcomes expected of the Unit’s faculty and teacher candidates. Our perspective is firmly anchored in the belief that students want to learn, do learn, and teachers want to teach and be effective in doing so.

Figure 1: UED Conceptual Framework

The conceptual framework was developed collaboratively by faculty and staff in 2013 and extensively explained in a document called “This We Believe” which includes a visual representation of our core beliefs and principles about urban teacher preparation at Metro State. This guiding document was crafted based on relevant research used in core classes as well as other research in the field of urban education and urban teacher preparation. In 2022, the unit faculty and staff reviewed and affirmed the framework’s components as core to our work, updated the graphic, and updated references with current scholarly research supporting components of the framework.

The UED Conceptual Framework is shared with teacher candidates in a variety of ways (e.g. during orientations, in courses, by advisors, posters, in our student handbook, etc.). Starting with the Introduction to Urban Education and Reflective Teaching (EDU 200) course for undergraduate students and the Principles of Urban Education (EDU 600) course for graduate students, coursework in all programs engages candidates in understanding research and critical reflection related to core principles in This We Believe. Furthermore, we have also created a one-page visual overview of our conceptual framework to make it easier to share and be understood by our teacher candidates and stakeholders without them having to read our whole This We Believe document.

Our This We Believe conceptual framework is results-oriented because it is based in UED’s stated vision and focuses on preparing diverse, resilient and effective teacher candidates who can improve the achievement of urban learners and address inequities. Accordingly, the UED works to develop teachers who are able to advocate for educational equity and excellence. Specifically, this is results-oriented because all students recommended for licensure must demonstrate mastery of resiliency, essential dispositions, critical content knowledge and effective pedagogical skills for urban teaching while demonstrating unconditional positive regard for all learners.

Congruently, the conceptual framework is also focused on the skills teachers need to be effective as one of our five core components is “Effective Pedagogical Skills for Urban Teaching”. Throughout all of our licensure programs, teacher candidates become skilled at effective teaching practices for all urban children. Teacher candidates learn how to design differentiated, culturally responsive curriculum, assessments and learning environments that facilitate academic achievement for their urban learners with a variety of backgrounds, skills, needs and interests. Moreover, teacher candidates are also guided to understand how racial, socio-economic, cultural, historical, and structural contexts impact student success and should inform their instruction.