[DOWNLOAD] "Promising Practices in Preservice Teacher Preparation: The Ball State University Urban Semester." by Childhood Education ~ eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Promising Practices in Preservice Teacher Preparation: The Ball State University Urban Semester.
- Author : Childhood Education
- Release Date : January 01, 2006
- Genre: Education,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 207 KB
Description
Fostering preservice teachers' multicultural development is critically germane to teacher education programs. While populations of ethnic minorities are growing rapidly in the United States, diversity among preservice educators remains minimal. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2003), while ethnic minorities made up 39 percent of elementary and secondary students, only 15 percent of preservice educators who graduated in the 1999-2000 school year represented a minority group. With increasing societal diversity, it is paramount that educators are prepared to embrace multiculturalism and construct just and equitable learning environments. Alarmingly, research suggests that European American preservice teachers in the latter half of the 20th century evidenced more negative attitudes toward American subcultures than had been found in the past 60 years (Law & Lane, 1987). A body of research confirms that many European American preservice teachers hold significantly different expectations for racially and economically diverse students than for majority group students (Baron, Tom, & Cooper, 1985; Dusek & Joseph, 1985; Marguerite & Mark, 2000). Such belief systems are the foundations upon which teachers build their pedagogy and base their interactions with students. Compelling research over the last 35 years on the effects of such attitudes on student achievement (Baron, Tom, & Cooper, 1985; Brophy & Good, 1970; Crano & Mellon, 1978; Dusek & Joseph, 1985; Gollub & Sloan, 1978; Rist, 1970; Rosenthal, 1976; Rosenthal & Jacobson, 1968; Schrank, 1968; Sutherland & Goldschmid, 1974) necessitates change in the systems that prepare our future educators. According to Clifton (1982), "If teachers set expectations which are based upon the ethnic background of students rather than upon the students' intellectual ability, academic performance, and educational plans, then equality of educational opportunity may be threatened" (p. 32). Examining teacher education pedagogy is paramount if the worth, potential, and subsequent achievement of all students are to be realized.