When Context Has Content: A Case Study of New Teacher Induction in the University of Chicago's Urban Teacher Education Program

Reviews of research evaluating the impact of beginning teacher induction suggest that the mixed results may be due to the fact that the programs do not fully address school context. We examine how one induction program for urban teachers explicitly addresses teachers' specific schools and students to illustrate how context becomes the content for teachers' learning and work. We argue that the program's "context-specific" supports may ease transition into the challenging role of urban teacher. In turn, this case suggests ways of addressing features of context that may help new teachers better understand and maintain a commitment to urban teaching.