2021/10/12 by Miriam Marguerita Gomez Witmer, Jeffrey W. Wimer
Psychology · Social Sciences · #Motivation and Self-Concept in Sports #Parental Involvement in Education #Youth Development and Social Support
paper · doi:10.1177/00131245211043840
crossref issued 2021/10/12 · crossref published 2021/10/12 · crossref published-online 2021/10/12 · openalex publication_date 2021/10/12 · crossref created 2021/10/12 · crossref published-print 2022/11/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · crossref deposited 2026/04/28 · crossref indexed 2026/07/28 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Students of color do not pursue teaching careers as often as their white counterparts. Project Teacher Development (PTD) is a partnership between a large urban school district and a public regional university to recruit and prepare students of color as future educators. The goal of PTD is to identify, mentor, and inspire high school students to pursue careers in education using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as an interpretive framework. Results from this longitudinal qualitative study indicate increased awareness of teaching skills and expectations for college. Too often, programs in education expect future teachers of color to divorce themselves from their racial and ethnic identities. Participants in this study expressed authentic voice, which is essential to develop autonomy, relatedness, and competence—the foundational elements of SDT. While the challenges of recruiting and preparing teachers of color remain multifaceted, specialized pipeline programs that maximize success for marginalized students are essential.