Using Cultural Heritage Exploration to Prepare Special Educators for Multicultural Educational Settings

• In Event: Enacting Inclusive and Culturally Relevant Practices in Special Education Teacher Preparation

Abstract

The purpose of this proposal is to share the process and result of a qualitative inquiry study that examined the impact of an ongoing cultural heritage exploration on special education teacher candidates’ intercultural competencies. Specifically, participants’ cultural competence was examined through a team-based approach to collecting and analyzing data from student discussion forums. Presenters will discuss the cultural heritage exploration components, procedure, and the implementation as well as the process and techniques of data collection and analyses. The result of the analyses triangulation suggested that participants were more responsive in discussing culturally sensitive topics, more open minded to accepting differences, and more advocating in supporting individuals from culturally diverse backgrounds than their initial responses shared in their cultural heritage presentations.

Authors

• Yaoying Xu, Virginia Commonwealth University

• LaRon A. Scott, Virginia Commonwealth University

• Jessica Wright, Virginia Commonwealth University