Chapter 6: Preservice Teacher Learning in a Professional Development School: Recognizing and Accepting the Complexity of Urban Teaching

In this chapter, the learning outcomes for preservice teachers in an early field experience in an urban professional development school (PDS) are examined. For the purpose of this chapter, “outcomes” refers to evidence of learning, growth, and/or change for preservice teachers, evident not on pupil or teacher test scores but in journal reflections, lesson plans, and professional practice with pupils. The context and conditions of the partnership between the school and the university made these outcomes possible, and analyzing data through the lens of situative theory suggests that learning cannot be defined in a vacuum but must be examined in light of the mediating social, historical, cultural, and contextual factors.