Teacher Complexity in Professional Development Experiences on Cultural Competency

• In Event: Teacher Learning and Identity Change in Social Studies Professional Development: A Career-Spanning Perspective

Abstract

Designing dedicated professional development experiences to address cultural competency can be exciting, yet problematic. Such professional development experiences are sometimes hindered by a lack of readiness to tackle contentious issues such as race, oppression, or issues of privilege in the classroom (Author & Co-authors). The multifaceted teacher professional development process is interlaced with teacher identities (Author & Co-author). Professional learning and discourses on cultural competency often challenge how teachers view themselves and their purpose in the classroom (Author & Co-author; Author & Co-authors). The proposed paper, titled “Teacher Complexity in Professional Development Experiences on Cultural Competency,” applies the Dynamic Systems Model of Role Identity (DSMRI) to bring forth the intricacies associated with teacher identity as it pertains to the personal vision of teachers as culturally competent. The research on cultural competence is full-bodied and rooted in the interdisciplinary fields of cross-cultural psychology, nursing, and multicultural counseling (Bustamante et al., 2016; Hammer et al., 2003; Sue & Sue, 2007). This construct is frequently used to measure attitudes, dispositions, values, beliefs, knowledge, and skills of professionals who directly interact with those who differ culturally from themselves (Author & Co-authors).
Specifically, the proposed paper uses existing data to ascertain whether or how the DSMRI can further explicate those ontological and epistemological beliefs, purposes actions, self- perceptions, and perceived action possibilities of 20 social studies and English/Language Arts educators who participated in a National Endowment for the Humanities Summer Institute Workshop. Grounded in social-cultural framing of experiences and action, DSMRI emerges from Symbolic Interactionism. It applies complexity systems to combine “identity, motivational, and learning concepts and processes into a formal model of development and action" (Author & Co-author), thus generating a comprehensive approach to gauging teacher professional learning.
When the DSMRI is applied to the data set, findings suggest that participants demonstrated a shift in ontological and epistemological beliefs, self-perceptions, and perceived action possibilities. Race, as a fixed category, did play a slight role in these shifts. What is less clear is the role of gender on shifts in the ontological and epistemological beliefs, self-perceptions, and perceived action possibilities.

Author

• Chrystal S. Johnson, Purdue University
  Presenting Author