Preservice Teachers Developing Humanizing, Intercultural Competence

• In Event: Honing Humanizing Practices: Nurturing Resilience, Mindfulness, and Justice in Teacher Education

Abstract

To promote equity in education, teacher educators must prepare teachers to connect with culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students in critical and humanizing ways. This study examines how pre-service teachers (PSTs) who engaged in a field-based, interactional learning experience made sense of and strove to develop humanizing, intercultural competence (HICC). Research has examined humanizing pedagogies and intercultural competence through PSTs’ self-reported outcomes; our study provides a unique perspective on the process of developing HICC by examining interactions between PSTs and CLD students in the field. Findings reveal that PSTs engaged in perspective taking, aspired to develop humanizing dispositions, and practiced discursive tools of interaction. We discuss implications for preparing teachers to work with CLD students in critical and humanizing ways.

Authors

• Melinda E. Martin-Beltran, University of Maryland - College Park

• Carmen Durham, University of Northern Iowa

• Amanda D Cataneo, University of Maryland - College Park