Beyond Equity and Diversity: The Challenge of Program Design for High-Quality Teacher Preparation

• In Event: Elevating the Dialogue About Equity and Teacher Education: An Intergenerational Structured Dialogue

Abstract

Equity and diversity are essential but not sufficient for ensuring the preparation of teachers for high quality teaching. Including knowledge, skills, and experiences related to teaching students from diverse cultural and experiential backgrounds and with different needs is essential in teacher preparation. There are definite advantages to including teachers of color in the profession. Further, preparing teachers from diverse cultural and experiential backgrounds to employ their insider knowledge when teaching students from backgrounds similar to their own is especially beneficial. However, the extent to which candidates are enabled to develop and apply deep professional knowledge to facilitate student learning depends on the design of teacher preparation programs and the quality of the knowledge and experiences provided.
The extent to which academic knowledge from coursework is observable and applicable in schools and classrooms, and candidates are provided adequate opportunities and guidance in clinical experiences for applying academic knowledge to practice and learning from practice how to contextualize learning experiences influences the quality of their preparation. Academic knowledge refers to knowledge of subject matter and professional knowledge for teaching. Contextualizing teaching and facilitating learning for students from diverse cultural and experiential backgrounds and with different needs requires deep academic knowledge and knowledge from practice regarding the interconnectedness among knowledge of learners, learning, subject matter, pedagogy, and learning outcomes.
High-quality teacher preparation that enables program completers to consistently support students in meeting expectations for their grade level and subject area requires a well-designed program characterized by coherence, continuity, consistency, and trustworthiness framed by a well-articulated philosophical stance, theoretical perspective, and epistemic practices. Coherence is developed through the methodical alignment of professional knowledge within and across courses, and with application to practice in clinical experiences. Continuity is the developmental sequencing of methodically aligned professional knowledge and clinical experiences to foster learning that is interrelated, cumulative, and increasingly complex. Consistency refers to stability of professional knowledge and clinical experiences over time. Trustworthiness is based on the quality and consistency in the preparation of candidates, their performance as teachers in the classroom, and learning and developmental outcomes for their students.
The philosophical stance, theoretical perspective, and epistemic practices are foundational for a high-quality teacher preparation program. The philosophical stance establishes the program purpose, target candidate population, and intended outcomes and impact. The theoretical perspective is an explanation of the process for learning to teach that frames the development of learning experiences for courses and clinical experiences, and the assessment of progress toward competent teaching. Epistemic practices are the rituals and routines that develop the habits of mind and professional practices that support competent teaching.
Finally, diversity and equity are most effectively addressed within the context of well-designed teacher preparation programs characterized by coherence, continuity, consistency, and trustworthiness framed by a well-articulated philosophical stance, theoretical perspective, and epistemic practices. The low academic performance across all subgroups in public schools and the disparities among specific groups are unlikely to change without more powerful teacher preparation programs.

Author

• Etta R. Hollins, University of Missouri - Kansas City
  Presenting Author