Teaching in an Urban School

For a teacher working in an urban school setting, they might experience some culture shocks if they have been brought up in a suburban or rural setting.  As Milner says in his article, Classroom Management in Urban Schools, “There is a noticeable difference between urban and rural schools in terms of student mobility, size, and diversity, with urban schools and communities being larger, having higher student transience, and including greater ethnic and cultural diversity,” (493).  But what does this mean for teachers? What kinds of implications come with these differences?

 “We know that more experienced teachers tend to have more effective classroom management skills, and students have greater chances for opportunities to learn with these teachers. We know that students whose basic needs are met – most often higher SES students – are better able to concentrate on learning and on managing their behaviors,” (Milner 493).  Milner is basically saying that teachers need to know how to meet the specific needs of different populations of students.  If teachers fail to make the connection with their students who are considered “at risk,” then those students are more likely to drop out.

In her ethnographic study of 31 culturally diverse students identified by the school as potential dropouts, Schlosser (1992) discovered that teachers must avoid distancing themselves from their students by developing knowledge about the students’ home lives and cultural backgrounds and by developing knowledge about adolescents’ developmental needs.  In her words, “the behaviors of marginal students are purposive acts…their behaviors are constructed on the basis of their interpretation of school live…relationships with teachers are a key factor,”(Milner 503).

This proves to be difficult at times when dealing with institutional and systematic barriers.  Teachers struggle to show students they care and to develop the best management strategies in urban classrooms.  “Teachers are often pressured and closely managed by their administrators. They experience less than ideal support; consequently, the teachers’ students may believe that the teachers ‘forget to care’ about the students themselves. In reality, the teachers are attempting to negotiate ‘structural conditions within the school, such as tracking and high teacher turnover, that preclude caring relationships with students’ (Kats, 1999, p.809),” (Milner 495).

Because the teachers struggle to show the students their support and due to the high rate of teacher turnover, it is hard for the students to make a lasting connection with their students, especially in urban schools.  If teachers learn how to overcome implications and barriers at urban schools, they will succeed in building lasting relationships with their students to encourage them to succeed in education.

Milner, R. H. Classroom Management in Urban Classrooms. 491-522.