“A Wealth of Knowledge”: Designing Courses That Transform How Educators See Students—and Themselves

• In Event: Global Perspectives on Preparation for Diversity: Enacting Anti-Bias Pedagogies for Transformative Multicultural Education

Abstract

This paper reports on one component of a mixed-methods research project evaluating the intentional implementation of the Pennsylvania Culturally Relevant and Sustaining Education (CRSE) Competencies in teacher education programs. Specifically, we examine how teacher education students at five universities describe the impact of coursework substantially revised to incorporate the CRSE Competencies in shaping their perceptions of the Competencies, their evolving understanding of personal identity, and their views on student identities and lived experiences. We found that candidates not only reported the courses successfully shaped their perspectives of CRSE, but also, using Self-Determination Theory (Ryan & Deci, 2017), pointed to specific course experiences that helped them develop CRSE-based teacher identities and understand their students’ identities.

Authors

• Sarah Anne Eckert, Eastern University

• Miriam Marguerita Gomez Witmer, Millersville University of Pennsylvania

• Jill May Swavely, Temple University

• Luca Poxon, Temple University

• Michelle J. Sobolak, University of Pittsburgh

• Beth R. Sockman, East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania