“I Am Not Afraid to Listen”: Prospective Teachers Learning From Students

摘要

This article describes a project that positions high school students as teacher educators within an undergraduate secondary certification program. A brief review of researchers' arguments for listening to students and a description of the project contextualize the perspectives of graduates of the program who teach or have taught in city schools. These teachers emphasize how the project allows them to reaccess the student experience in school; get clear on what it means to really listen; learn how important it is to take students' experiences and perspectives seriously; recognize how much more engaged in their learning students are when teachers listen and respond to them; and understand the importance of knowing why, not only how, listening to students affects their learning. The article concludes with suggestions for how others can create similar opportunities to listen to students.