Multicultural Attitude Shifts of Career-Changers

• In Event: 52.048 - Culture in the Classroom: Examining the Influence of Teachers' Identities and Attitudes

Abstract

This study examines novice career-changer teachers’ attitudes about multicultural education and whether or not they shift over time. Participants are 57 career-changers enrolled in a required diversity course as part of their graduate teacher preparation program. A pre- and post- survey using The Multicultural Attitudes Survey (TMAS), which is a uni-dimensional self-report inventory, was administered at the beginning and end of each section of the course. Results indicate insights about how new teachers think about their role and preparation for culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms. Implications for how teacher preparation programs can serve as venues to facilitate conversations and combat deeply embedded belief systems stem from analysis of shifts in multicultural attitudes.

Authors

• Jennifer L. Cuddapah, Hood College

• Yolanda Abel, Johns Hopkins University

• Francine Winston Johnson, Johns Hopkins University