Multiple Perspectives on Preparing Teachers for Diverse Populations: National, Institutional, and Curricular Responses

Session Type: Symposium

Abstract

Despite more than thirty years of research and policy concerned with preparing teachers for the changing demographic landscape of public education, there remains considerable variation in teacher education programs’ attention to issues related to diversity. Strong evidence suggests that eponymous Multicultural Education courses and standalone field placements in urban settings are insufficient in developing preservice teachers’ understandings of racial, ethnic, and cultural difference, yet little is known of broader programmatic and institutional responses to “diversity standards” of NCATE and other governing organizations. Panelists consider how particular institutional orientations to diversity - manifest in program structures, course objectives, and performance assessments - afford and delimit preservice candidates’ opportunities to develop the awareness, insights, and skills for effective teaching in multicultural schools.

Sub Unit

• Division K - Teaching and Teacher Education / Section 5: Preservice Teacher Education Coursework: Practices to Improve Teacher Knowledge, Understanding, and Application of Subject Matter, Content, and Pedagogical Practices

Chair

• Paula M. Carbone, University of Southern California

Papers

• Syllabus as Story: Institutional Rhetoric and the Framing of Diversity in Foundational Coursework - Laura A. Davis, New York University

• A Tale of Two Measures: Defining Pedagogical Proficiency in the Assessment of Preservice Teachers - Kimberly Woo, New York University

• Institutional Responses to Changing Political Landscapes: Federally Mandated Teacher Education Coursework in Brazil - Jenifer Crawford, University of Southern California

• Pedagogy in Preparing Students to Work With Diverse Populations: Integrating Prejudice Reduction Across Undergraduate Education Coursework - Rema Ella Reynolds, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Discussant

• SJ Miller, University of Colorado - Boulder