Graduate Thesis Or Dissertation
 

My journey with preservice teachers : reflecting on teacher characteristics that bridge multicultural education theory and classroom practice

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https://ir.library.oregonstate.edu/concern/graduate_thesis_or_dissertations/zg64tp592

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  • In the past decade, issues related to cultural diversity and pluralism have risen to the forefront in education. The increasing cultural diversity in American classrooms and communities requires preservice teachers to be ready to promote multiple perspectives within their curricula and among their students. The purpose of this study was to understand how elementary preservice teachers engage in multicultural education. The researcher perspective is that of an African American woman working in a predominantly European American community. The connection between multicultural education theories and preservice teacher practices has not been consistently established. In order to bridge this gap, I used an experience-based methodology, drawing on close interaction with and observation of five participants over the course of a year. Different individuals exemplify the four themes that emerged from all five participants. The first and central theme that emerged was caring for individuals based on core beliefs. This is a crucial element for teaching in a multicultural society. Second, caring leads to willingness to dialogue on multiple perspectives, or any dichotomy, as a basis for understanding. Third, passionate pursuits become bases for action in the realm of multicultural education and for promoting the interests of all children. Fourth, openness to learn is a prerequisite to progress in multicultural education. Demonstrating caring concern, developing and encouraging passionate pursuits, and utilizing multiple perspectives through dialogue have been valuable in encouraging the openness to learn by preservice teachers as they facilitate a similar growth in their students. These same methods have shaped my research. I recognize that the themes that emerged from the participants are also embedded in the research method and reflect many appropriate college and elementary classroom teaching practices. These mirrored similarities are grounded in the metaphor of chaos theory. I also made connections to James Banks' Dimensions of Multicultural Education, and his Levels of Integration of Multicultural Content, and to LeoNora Cohen's Principles for Serving Students. Additional contributions of this study are the epistemological and methodological basis of the research and the way the representation of the data mirrors the method and the findings.
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