Preparing Preservice Teachers to Teach in a Culturally Responsive Way
Abstract
A teacher education program designed to adequately prepare preservice teachers to instruct culturally and linguistically diverse students in their classrooms is described. Under the supervision of a professor and a graduate assistant in a required methods course at a private midwestern Christian university, 24 preservice teachers, who use a culturally responsive teaching framework to teach reading to urban elementary children who scored between low and intermediate levels on their state reading examination, participated in this study. Data were collected from the preservice teachers' class and field experiences in the areas of (a) autobiographical poem and culturalartifact, (b) cultural diversity awareness inventory, (c) book discussion groups, (d) inquiry project, and (e) structured field experience. These data were discussed and used to enhance their preparation for instructing culturally and linguistically diverse students. Implications regarding how teacher education programs can create a learning environment where future teachers can learn to welcome and support all students, specifically those from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds, are discussed.
Reference
Barnes, C. J. (2006). Preparing preservice teachers to teach in a culturally responsive way. Negro Educational Review, 57(1/2), 85-100.
Journal
Negro Educational Review
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
- field-based methods course
- Practicum experience
- Reading methods
- University
Preservice Participants
- Undergraduates (university based program)
Preservice Sample Size
24
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- Autobiographies
- book discussion groups
- cultural diversity awareness inventory
- Field experience log
- inquiry project
Data Analysis Tools
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
Research Questions
The main question was: How do selected preservice teachers
teach in a culturally responsive manner?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes