On Wednesday January 8, teacher candidates in a TERI course, “Cultures, Schools, and Communities,” visited Brooklyn Center High School. The school visit was planned as a key class component of the 7th Great Lesson, entitled “Family & Community Partnerships that Support Learning.”
Michael Goh, co-instructor of the course, emphasized the importance of taking teacher candidate students out of a lecture hall, and bringing them to an authentic setting like Brooklyn Center Community Schools.
“We are constantly studying our design of the Great Lessons to amplify [teacher candidates’] learning experience. To that end, it is especially vital that we are able to bridge theory and practice, and future teachers are able to experience what they read and discuss from our Great Lessons beyond the abstract. We have a unique opportunity to immerse ourselves in a school district that epitomizes family and community partnerships [through] one of the exemplary Brooklyn Center Community Schools.”
Upon arrival, our teacher candidates were warmly greeted by Dr. Carly Jarva, principal of Brooklyn Center High School. The candidates were then met by a group of high school seniors and school staff who graciously gave us school tours showcasing a multitude of integrated services, including an onsite Health Resource Center which provides health, dental, and mental health services for students as well as any community members who are birth to 18 years of age.

During the panel discussion, teacher candidates listened to powerful stories of the panelists’ commitment to creating and strengthening community partnerships that support student learning. Through authentic dialogue about the challenges as well as the opportunities to make students the core of family and community partnerships, our future teachers engaged in deep reflection on the critical role they play within these partnerships.
Many future teachers felt empowered to learn that classroom teachers are an integral part of community building. And their engagement process begins within their own classroom by creating a trusting and supportive community with students and their families. Here are some of student comments after the visit:
“I was totally captivated by the panel of speakers at Brooklyn Center High School. They were so generous with their passion and their time, and I am energized by their words. What I like most of all is that the school and district leaders are rolling up their sleeves and “humbling” themselves in order to precipitate real change in the community and for the students.”
“Brooklyn Center Community School is where I am currently placed, and my first day was the day of Great Lessons. I had done some research prior and have been very observant of the things that BCMS offer to their students including an extensive after school program, health facilities, and supportive/extensive staff. At Great Lessons, I got an even better picture of the services they provide. I am glad that the school values building community and implemented such a great system.”
“I have heard about community schools, and it is great to work in and see one in action. I think such an idea also creates a great school environment with staff, students, and families. I learned a great deal about the concept and can only hope to work in such an environment in the future.”
“As a future teacher, sometimes I get so caught up in how I’ll explain my content or how I’ll manage my own classroom, that it’s easy to forget that students have lives outside of the walls we share, that may affect their academic success. My time at Brooklyn Center, and the panel of speakers, candidly addressed some of these issues, and reminded me that wrap around services in schools can help, not only the student body, but the entire community. It’s a powerful reminder for everyone; until a student’s basic needs are met, they cannot learn.”
Submitted by Shuji Asai, Licensure Officer

Road trips for Elementary Education, Curriculum & Instruction, and EDRC staff so far this year include visits to partner sites:
• St. Paul Public Schools: Saint Anthony Park, Frost Lake, and Linwood/Monroe (both campuses)
• Minneapolis Public Schools: Dowling, Lucy Laney, Hall, Andersen, Marcy, Pillsbury, Barton, Roosevelt, Sanford
• Columbia Heights Public Schools: North Park, Highland and Valley View
• White Bear Lake Area Schools: Otter and Lincoln
• Edina: Highlands
Other school sites visited specifically by Elementary Education’s Kathy Byrn include Sioux Trails in Burnsville, Brimhall in Roseville, and XinXing in Hopkins.
We also visited district teams and representatives in Saint Paul, Brooklyn Center, Minneapolis, and Forest Lake.
Next semester we plan to visit the following partner schools that we did not get to this fall:
• Vadnais in WBL
• Nokomis/Sheridan in SPPS
• Crossroads in SPPS
• Lino Lakes in Forest Lake
Also included are these other practicum sites, cluster sites, or potential cluster/PDS sites:
• Harvest, charter
• Harambee, Roseville
• Kenny, MSP
• Kenwood, MSP
• Creek Valley, Edina
• Soujourner Truth Academy, charter
If we haven’t already been there, we look forward to seeing you soon!
Kathy Byrn, Elementary Education Clinical Coordinator
Amy Jo Lundell, Curriculum & Instruction Clinical Placement Coordinator
Jehanne Beaton, TERI/MPS Partnership Liaison @ RHS
Tiffany Moore, TERI/MPS Induction Coordinator
Bob Utke, Clinical Learning Coordinator
Stacy Ernst, School Partner Network Coordinator
Deborah Dillon, Associate Dean of Graduate, Professional and International Programs

Highland Elementary in Columbia Heights was featured in a December 15th Twin Cities Daily Planet article titled “Taking teacher training seriously: A medical-style residency program at UofM.” Read the full story.

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Sometimes when you enter into a partnership, you know it’ll be great and that everyone will learn and grow in amazing ways. Sometimes you know it will be good for you, but you’re a little worried. Sometimes you have no idea what will happen, but you just go for it and take a leap of faith. What we know is that transformation through partnership is possible.
With the passing of Nelson Mandela, I was reminded of the word and the concept of “ubuntu” As you know, it’s South African word from the Nguni Bantu language. It is one of those words that can’t be translated into a single word in English. Ubuntu expresses recognition that we are all bound together in our humanity in ways that are not always self-evident, that we can be our best selves by sharing ourselves with others and caring for those around us. Ubuntu if often understood to mean that each of can be who we are because of who we all are, as a unified community.
I feel a sense of Ubuntu through our partnerships. In partnership spaces, I see we are learning about and nurturing the best in all of us. We’re becoming who we are, we’re transforming, because of who we are in partnership.
In partnerships of all sorts, we are persisting through misunderstandings and believing and trusting each other, under assumptions that we are all acting with the best of intentions, despite challenges. We’re doing it for our teacher candidates, for our own growth and we’re especially doing it for Minnesota students and their families.
As you will see from our introductory panel, partnership relationships mean a lot more than merely placing teacher candidates in practicum experiences.
Teacher education programs, like other institutions that are part of the education ecosystem, have the responsibility to respond to immediate challenges and prepare for future needs. Now school partnerships are an inextricable piece of this ecosystem. For example, demographic changes in P-12 schools far outpace changes in the educator workforce. There is widespread under-education of students in mathematics, science and wholesale under-education of students with disabilities and English learners. Furthermore, we need teachers with sufficient training in college and career ready standards and who can use technology to promote engagement and learning. We can remedy these issues through partnership.
Respectful reciprocity based on mutual need is how partnerships in life and in teacher education enable us to change and grow. With the best intentions, the will to see each others’ strengths, move beyond assumptions about who we are, we learn and grow and develop relationships within formal partnerships. It is in through these experiences that partnerships are transformative.
Submitted by Dr. Martha Bigelow, Interim Executive Director of the Educator Development and Research Center