TY - JOUR
T1 - Multicultural Matters
T2 - An Investigation of Key Assumptions of Multicultural Education Reform in Teacher Education
AU - Cherng, Hua Yu Sebastian
AU - Davis, Laura A.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education.
PY - 2019/5/1
Y1 - 2019/5/1
N2 - Five decades of rhetoric and reform in teacher education underscore the importance of multicultural education in preparing teachers to meet the needs of all students. State and national policy initiatives targeting multicultural education build on two assumptions: first, that preservice teachers lack the multicultural awareness to function as culturally responsive educators, and second, that higher levels of multicultural awareness correspond with increased pedagogical proficiency. Few studies have examined variation in multicultural awareness across preservice candidates, or the link between multicultural awareness and prospective teachers’ measured competencies. Using a novel dataset of 2,500 preservice teachers’ beliefs and student teacher performance assessments, we find that Black and Latino candidates report greater multicultural awareness, while Asian Americans report less, compared with their White counterparts. Prior experience working with nondominant populations is linked with higher levels of awareness, particularly for minority respondents. Propensity score matching analyses reveal that multicultural awareness is tied to candidates’ competence in creating nurturing classroom environments.
AB - Five decades of rhetoric and reform in teacher education underscore the importance of multicultural education in preparing teachers to meet the needs of all students. State and national policy initiatives targeting multicultural education build on two assumptions: first, that preservice teachers lack the multicultural awareness to function as culturally responsive educators, and second, that higher levels of multicultural awareness correspond with increased pedagogical proficiency. Few studies have examined variation in multicultural awareness across preservice candidates, or the link between multicultural awareness and prospective teachers’ measured competencies. Using a novel dataset of 2,500 preservice teachers’ beliefs and student teacher performance assessments, we find that Black and Latino candidates report greater multicultural awareness, while Asian Americans report less, compared with their White counterparts. Prior experience working with nondominant populations is linked with higher levels of awareness, particularly for minority respondents. Propensity score matching analyses reveal that multicultural awareness is tied to candidates’ competence in creating nurturing classroom environments.
KW - class
KW - gender
KW - multicultural education
KW - race
KW - sexual orientation
KW - teacher education preparation
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U2 - 10.1177/0022487117742884
DO - 10.1177/0022487117742884
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85042232443
SN - 0022-4871
VL - 70
SP - 219
EP - 236
JO - Journal of Teacher Education
JF - Journal of Teacher Education
IS - 3
ER -