Perceptions of preservice elementary teachers on multicultural issues

Abstract

This paper reports an exploratory study of preservice teachers' knowledge of multicultural education and preparedness for literacy instruction with diverse populations. We conducted the study across a variety of college and university contexts. Results showed that preservice teachers did not feel well prepared to teach children of diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. We also found evidence that these preservice teachers had not developed a strong knowledge base about multicultural education, despite the fact that they had all been introduced to multicultural topics in their teacher education coursework. This study demonstrates that there is a need for examination of current methods of preparing teachers for providing literacy instruction that addresses diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds.

Reference

Barksdale, M., Richards, J., Fisher, P., Wuthrick, M., Hammons, J., Grisham, D., & Richmond, H. (2002). Perceptions of preservice elementary teachers on multicultural issues. Reading Horizons, 43(1), 27-42.

Journal

Reading Horizons

Analysis

Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?

Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?

Research Approach

Exploratory study
mixed methods

Geographic Setting

United States

Institutional Context

University based

Certification Level

Elementary

Programatic Focus

Literacy Education

Research Location Context

University

Preservice Participants

Masters of Arts in Teaching
Undergraduates (university based program)

Preservice Sample Size

223

Duration of Data Collection

Not clear

Data Sources

Survey

Data Analysis Tools

coding (emergent categories)
Qualitative Analysis
Quantitative Content Analysis

Researcher Positionality

Outside (not directly invested in the program or operations)

Research Questions

We performed this study to: • investigate preservice teachers' perceptions of their preparedness to work with multicultural populations • examine preservice teachers' general knowledge of multicultural education topics
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes