Community Immersion for Homegrown Teachers: Learning “There are Never Just Negatives…”

The authors describe an initiative between an urban public school district, a city college, and a college of education to establish a pipeline of teachers of color from and for the school district. The qualitative research occurred during the teacher candidates’ participation in a community immersion program. Centering the teacher candidates’ experiences and reactions to the community immersion highlights their identity, commitment to teaching, and the importance of exposing homegrown teachers to communities beyond their own. The authors discuss community-based curriculum in the preparation of teachers and consider how the experiences of teacher candidates of color impact program implementation.