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Educational Researcherhttp://er.aera.net
Themes in the Research on Preservice Teachers' Views of Cultural Diversity: Implications forResearching Millennial Preservice Teachers
Antonio J. CastroEDUCATIONAL RESEARCHER 2010 39: 198
DO: 10.3102/0013189!103"3819
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19 educational
A
Themes in the Research on PreserviceTeachers Views of Cultural Diversity:
Implications for Researching MillennialPreservice TeachersAntonio J. Castro
This article traces themes found in the research on
preservice teach- ers views of cultural diversity
pulished in peer-reviewed !ournals from 198" to
#$$%. The article see&s to draw insi'hts that inform
education researchers interested in interro'atin' and
unpac&in' views aout diversity e(pressed y todays
millennial colle'e students. )indin's su''est that
althou'h recent studies report a shift toward more
positive attitudes aout teachin' culturally diverse
students* persistent issues pla'ue preservice
teachers understandin' of cul- tural diversity.
+mplications for future research are discussed.
eywor!s: diversity, multicultural education,social !ustice,
teacher educationdevelopment
s todays public schools become more culturally
and economically diverse, the demographic divide
between teachers and students deepens. Preservice
teachers gen-
erally come from middle-class, Anglo-American backgrounds
(Zumwalt !raig, "##$% and prefer to teach in suburban
and more affluent school conte&ts ('arling-ammond
!obb,
)**+%, perpetuating e&isting ineuities in access to ualified
teachers for urban and high-needs schoolchildren ('arling-
ammond, "## /adson-0illings 0rown, "##1%.
2urthermore, teachers in diverse schools may hold lower
e&pecta- tions, resulting in a pedagogy of poverty that
undermines the potential inherent to a public school
education (aberman,
)**), )**+%. Preparing culturally responsive teachers with the
willingness and abilities to teach in these more diverse school
conte&ts represents, perhaps, the most daunting task facing
teacher educators today (3ay, "##" 4illegas, "##1%.
5uch of the research on promoting culturally responsive
teaching addresses gaps and deficits in preservice teachers
e&peri- ences, attitudes, and perceptions. 2or e&le, 6leeter
("##1% outlined four interrelated issues affecting many 7hite
preservice teachers. 2irst, 7hite preservice teachers failed torecogni8e the pervasiveness of racial ineuity. 6econd, 7hite
preservice teach- ers held deficit views about and lower
e&pectations for students of color. 9hird, these preservice
teachers adopted a colorblind approach to teaching, denying
the very significance of race in
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theirpractices. 2inally, 7hitepreservice teachers lacked a sense
of themselves as culturalbeings, resulting in their assumptions
that their own cultural lenses represent the norm for all other
students.
owever, despite the persistence of these findings, recent
reports about todays millennial-generation college students:
those born in or since )*1$:highlight their greater acceptance
of cultural diversity, increased civicparticipation, and advocacy
for social ;ustice issues (0roido, "##usley, "##+%. 6cholars investigating themillennial generation suggest that the ?historical location@ of
millennial col- lege students is dramatically different from that
ofprevious gen- erations, stressing the influence of factors such
as the rise of the nternet and interconnectivity, globali8ation,
and demographic diversity (!oomes, "##
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As this inuiry reveals, the research over time offers both
problems andpossibilities that make more comple& our further
e&aminations of millennial preservice teachers and their beliefs
about cultural diversity.
Critical Multiculturalism an! PreserviceTeachers Views on Cultural Diversity
As began this synthesis, relied on aspects of critical multicul-
turalism to inform my interpretation of these studies. !ritical
multiculturalism draws inspiration from critical theory, sharing?essentially the same ethics, spirit, values, principles, and
actions@ (3ay, )**$, p. )1#%. !ritical multiculturalism strives
to bring about the transformation of society to accomplish the
goals of social ;ustice by confronting and disrupting
institutions and the structures of power that maintain
disparities across race, class, and gender (5ay, )**1 6leeter
3rant, "## 6leeter 5c/aren, )**$ 6teinberg, )**$
6teinberg =incheloe, "##)%. !ritical multiculturalism also
challenges the essentiali8ing of cul- tural groups and
?romantici8ing the curriculum@ with images of ?brown heroes@
or mystical pasts (5c!arthy, )**B 5c/aren,
)**$ Fieto, )**$%.
Applying ideas of critical multiculturalism to preservice
teach- ers views on cultural diversity, multicultural
education, and social ;ustice led me to e&plore two specific
concepts. 2irst, bor- rowed from 2reires ()***% descriptions
of conscientizo. 2reire argued that the first stage in
promoting an antioppressive, humanist pedagogy reuired
both the oppressor and oppressed to ?take into account their
behavior, their view of the world, and their ethics@ (p. B%.
9his idea of conscious reflection on ones self and situation
mirrors the concept of sociocultural consciousness espoused by
4illegas and /ucas ("##"%, which they define as ?awareness
that onesworldview is not universalbut isprofoundly shaped
by oneslife e&periences, as mediated by a variety of fac- tors,chief among them raceGethnicity, social class, and gender@ (p.
"%. 9his awareness, according to 4illegas and /ucas, can
assist preservice teachers inbecoming culturally responsive in the
classroom.
6econd, critical multiculturalism asserts that ineuities occur
at the level of institutional practices and structures and are
often masked by common sets of ideologies and beliefs:what
2reire referred to as the ?myths which deform us@ (6hor
2reire,
)*1+G"##B, p.
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and social ;ustice and whether the research literature suggests
greater critical awareness of multicultural issues.
Metho!
0orn in or since )*1$, many of todaysundergraduate seniors
belong to the first cohort of millennials to earn a college
degree. 9his article tracks and synthesi8es the research
discourse aboutpreservice teachers views on cultural diversity
throughout much of the millennial generations life spanhowever, it does not con- tain an e&haustive review of the
literature. used the following criteria to choose articles
appropriate to this endeavor. 2irst, all the selected articles
describe research findings for ualitative, uantitative, or
mi&ed-methods studies that involved traditional undergraduate
students, usually ranging from )* to "B years of age, who were
enrolled in teacher education programs. 9he scope of this
synthesis includes possible generational trends in the
research findings over time and e&cludes studies focused on
alter- native certification or postbaccalaureate programs, which
attract older teacher education students (Zumwalt !raig,
"##$%.
6econd, all articles included in the synthesis present
findings related to views on cultural diversity, social ;ustice, or
multicul- tural education that the preservice teacher possessed
prior to any intervention or educational e&perience. 9hese
findings offer a measureby which to draw comparisons across
the literature over time. 'escriptions of programs or courses
that did not utili8e a specific research methodology andGor
failed to report on stu- dents incoming views were not
included.
began first by identifying key research articles published from
)*1$ to )***. defined a ?key@ study as one that either was
cited in a review of literature on preservice teachers views on
cultural diversity, social ;ustice, andGor multicultural education or
appeared as a chapter in a handbook of research on teacher
education andG or multicultural education or in !ochran-
6mith and Zeichners Studying Teacher Education: The Report
of the AERA Panel on Research and TeacherEducation ("##$
also see !ochran-6mith et al., "##B 3rant 6ecada, )**#
ollins 3u8man, "##$ 6leeter, "##1 Zeichner oeft,
)**+%. 9hese review chapters synthesi8e the research literature
usually over a span of )# or more years and serve as a guide forfuture research in the field. n addi- tion, located research
articles that were cited by one or more of the articles included
in this synthesis. wanted to ensure that A included as many
peer-reviewed studies as possible that had been identified as
contributing to the field of research in this area.
Fe&t, because most of the syntheses already published do
not review recently published research, conducted a hand
search of peer-reviewed ;ournals that address issues in teacher
education, diversity, and urban education looked for research
studies pub- lished from "### to "## that fit my selection
criteria, discussed above. 9hese ;ournals included Action in
Teacher Education;Education and r!an Society; E"uity andE#cellence; $ournal of Teacher Education; Teacher Education
%uarterly; Teaching and TeacherEducation; r!an Education;
and r!anRe&ie'.
Ising my selection process, identified B+ articles
published from )*1+ to )*** and )* articles published from
"### to "##, a total of $$ research studies. 9o facilitate a
change-over-time analysis of the research, distributed the
articles into three timeperiods based on specific trends that
identified within the lit- eratureC )*1+J)**< ()B articles%,
)**$J)*** ("B articles%, and
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Table 1
Themes Across the Research on Preservice Teachers Beliefs on Diversity inEach Time Period
Time Period 1 (19861994) Time Period 2 (19951999) Time Period 3 (20002007)
A lack of comple&ity in understanding
multicultural issues.
A lack of tolerance for different cultural
groups
3aps in learning how to teach in
multicultural conte&ts.
A lack of comple&ity in understanding
multicultural issues.
'eficit viewsGpre;udice regarding students
of color.
Amportance of personal background on
attitudes, beliefs, and multicultural
concepts.
A lack of comple&ity in understanding
multicultural issues.
!ontradictory attitudesGperceptions
concerning diverse populations and
social ;ustice.
Amportance of personal background onattitudes, beliefs, and multicultural
concepts.
nstructional practices that foster changes in
preservice teachers beliefs about
diversity, social ;ustice, or multicultural
education.
"###J"## ()* articles%. As read each article, took e&tensive
notes on the influences and challenges associated with
preparing teachers for culturally diverse student populations.
organi8ed these notes into a grid and categori8ed them into
themes for each specific time period, aprocess known as open
coding (5iles uberman, )**
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the mostly Anglo-American preservice teachers toward ethnic
minorities, and gaps in course work in multicultural
education and teaching strategies.
A lac1 of comple#ity in understanding multicultural issues. 9he
studies during this time period revealed that preservice
teachers held uncritical, shallow, and inaccurate perspectives
on impor- tant societal issues, akin to what =ing ()**)%
termed ?dyscon- sciousness,@ or the ?uncritical habit of mind
(including perceptions, attitudes, assumptions, and beliefs%that ;ustifies ineuity and e&ploitation by accepting the e&isting
order of things as given@ (p.
)B$%. Kesearchers discovered that many preservice teachers
failed to look critically at systems of ineuity, 7hiteprivilege,
teaching in diverse conte&ts, and the goals of multicultural
education.
9wo research studies demonstrated that preservice teachers
held shallow and vague notions of socioeconomic and
educational disparities for minority populations. 2irst, =ing
()**)% asked the
$ students enrolled in her 2oundations of Lducation course to
offer e&planations for the high infant mortality rate among
African Americans she discovered that her students held a
?blame the victim@ mentality, finding fault within the African
American community or withpoverty in general. n a similar
study, Avery and 7alker ()**B% surveyed )$" preservice
teachers about the achievement gap between 7hites,
ispanics, and African Africans. 9hey found the ?simplicity
of responses@ givenby par- ticipants to be ?surprising@ (p. B$%,
indicating that participants had ?only vague understandings of
the relationship between social structures and schooling and of
the e&tent to which ineuality is perpetuated through schools@
(p. B$%. 9hese studiespoint to the lack of critical consciousnessnecessary to engage in critical mul- ticulturalism. ndeed,
participants tended to hold individuals and communities
personally responsible for these disparities.
Additional studies in this time period reported that
partici- pants held narrow, individualistic, or distorted notions
of multi- cultural education. 0oth 3rant and =oskela ()*1+%
and 3oodwin ()**
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did not apply to teaching in 7hite schools. /ikewise, the
ma;or- ity of respondents to 3oodwinsuestionnaire felt that
multicul- tural education should only promote tolerance of
culturally diverse others. n their case study of two 7hite
teacher education students, Koss and 6mith ()**"% concluded
that these students associated multicultural education with
individuali8ed instruc- tion, ignoring race and culture as
significant factors in learning. 9hese studies revealed that
participants failed to grasp important aspects of critical
multiculturalism, seeing multicultural educa- tion as boostingthe self-esteem of culturally diverse students, ensuring
toleration of minority students, and practicing indi-
viduali8ed instruction. Participants failed to be aware of
institu- tional racism and the impact of privilege on the
potential life outcomes of students from marginali8ed groups.
A lac1 of tolerance for different cultural groups. n this time
period, preservice teachers e&pressed distaste for interacting
with differ- ent racial and ethnic groups. 6everal studies utili8ed
some version of the 0ogardus 6ocial 'istance 6cale to
determine the degree of acceptance participants had for
culturally different others (0ennett, Figgle, 6tage, )**#
/aw /ane, )*1 5artin 7illiams-'i&on, )**
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mentees prior to meeting them. 9he researchers reali8ed that
?the ma;ority of the mentors had negative perceptions andGor
poor attitudes about the personalities of their African-
American or 5e&ican American mentees@ (p. %. 9hese
findings reflect the kinds of discomfort and stereotypical
thinking measured by the 0ogardus 6cale in the studies
discussedpreviously.
>nly one study by lebowitsh and 9elle8 ()**B%, reported
positively about preservice teachers views on diverse student
populations. 9he researchers provided "B$ participants withcharacter sketches (leader, athlete, bully, slow learner%.
Although the character sketches were the same, the race and
gender of the student described varied on different instruments.
>verall, stu- dents marked higher indications of respect for
diverse students. 9he researchers cautioned that participants,
who generally hold minority populations in lower esteem,
might report greater levels of respect when presented with
sketches of them as leaders or athletes. 7hen given a negative
description of a minority student (as a bully or slow learner%,
participants might see this as natural and thus report more
positive values for these scenarios. 9he researchers suggested
that more in-depth, ualitative research be conducted to
e&plore the reasoning made by preservice teachers about
diverse student types.
3enerally, these studies reveal deep stereotypes and
miscon- ceptions held by 7hite preservice teachers about
different cul- tural groups, reinforcing racial superiority and
intolerance. Kacial distance and discrimination make
impossible the reali8ation of critical multiculturalism. >nly
when 7hite preservice teachers confront their misguided
assumptions about culturally different others and interrogate
their own sense of cultural privilege can progress truly be
made.
2aps in learning to teach in multicultural conte#ts. 9wo studies
in this time period documented gaps in learning how to teach
in culturally diverse conte&ts. adaway and 2lore8 ()*1%
discov- ered that more than half of the )"$ teacher education
students responding to their survey on multicultural
education had not taken courses in multicultural education, felt
unprepared to teach in a culturally diverse conte&t, and stated
that if offered they would attend a multicultural training
institute. /ikewise, 3rant and =oskela ()*1+% found that most
of the "B participants in their study (discussed earlier%
indicated that they were taught some ideas of multicultural
education but were not given guid- ance on how to
incorporate these ideas during their student teaching
semester. 9he findings of adaway and 2lore8 and of 3rant
and =oskela suggest that a coherent approach to teaching
multicultural education can best promote critical
multicultural awareness.
n the first time period, findings about the lack of
understand- ing of multicultural issues, the general intolerance
held bypreser- vice teachers for cultural diversity, and gapsin multicultural education ;ustify the need for e&panding
multicultural education in teacher educationprograms. 5ost of
these studies uncovered the attitudes of preservice teachers
toward culturally diverse stu- dentsbut did not account for the
root of these attitudes and per- ceptions. =ing ()**)%
pinpointed ?culturally sanctioned assumptions, beliefs, and
myths@ (p. )B$% and Koss and 6mith ()**"% discussed how an
individualistic orientation to diversity enabled two participants
to hold deficit views on minority and
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low-income students. Net these studies did not e&plore these
issues at length. Promoting the aims of critical
multiculturalism will reuire teacher educators to help
preservice teachers to interrogate their prior e&periences, cultural
assumptions, and racial ideologies.
Time Period 3: E#pansion of Research on Preser&iceTeachers4 5ie's *(++6(+++0
9he research published from )**$ to )*** elaborated on the
lack of comple&ity of preservice teachers engagement withmulticul- tural ideas. n addition, these studies e&plored
dimensions of stu- dents pre;udices and stereotypes. 2inally,
the notion that apersons prior e&periences influenced her
or his interactions in culturally diverse settings emerged across
several research studies.
A lac1 of comple#ity in understanding multicultural issues. 9he
findings of this time period pointed to three dominant trends
in preservice teachers views. 2irst, preservice teachers
adopted highly individualistic approaches to diversity. 2or
e&le, 5ontecinos and Kios ()***% asked * preservice
teachers to pro- vide arguments for or against different
approaches to multicul- tural education. According to5ontecinos and Kios, students adopted a ?logic of individual
differences@ that saw cultural dif- ferences as individualistic,
ignoring aspects of racism and institu- tional ineuity.
/ikewise, Koss and Neager ()***% foundparticipants to
hold individualistic views concerning democracy. 9hey
determined that )1 of the "* elementary preservice teachers who
submitted papers on their definitions of democracy e&pressed ?a
narrow conception of democracy@ (p. "+$%, emphasi8ing
democracy as individualistic actions, such as voting, and
failing to acknowledge important aspects of pluralism and
cultural diversity. 9hese participants saw diversity merely as a
product of individual differences, without regard to systems of
ineuity thatpervade institutions such as schools that often
favor Anglo- American and middle-class cultural norms.
6econd,preservice teachers euated multicultural teaching
with individuali8ed instruction. 2or e&le, from a survey of B
preservice teachers, 0arry and /echner ()**$% determined that
preservice teachers relegated teaching of multicultural
education to specific classroom teaching techniues meant to
help the child accommodate to the classroom rather than to
address underlying assumptions about diverse students or to
acknowledge the uniue cultural contributions these students
brought to the classroom. /ikewise, in a case study of how one
African American student teacher taught culturally diverse
populations, Kodrigue8 and 6;ostrom ()**$% discovered thatthe student teacher concen- trated primarily on selecting
materials and organi8ing instruc- tional content around
different learning styles to meet the needs of the students,
rather than on including cultural knowledge in the curriculum.
2inally, Laster 6hult8, Feyhart, and Keck ()***% reported that
respondents to a survey about attitudes and beliefs on teaching
diverse students viewed multicultural teaching as
implementing instructional techniues and listedbeing a ?good
communicator, good listener, and good classroom manager@
(p.
")"% as ualities necessary for the multicultural teacher. ence
the enactment of multicultural teaching mirrored a technical
approach to teaching in which multicultural education
becomes nothing more than implementing a set of teaching
technologies in the classroom.
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9hird, this individualistic orientation to multicultural
educa- tion allowed preservice teachers to maintain a myth of
meritoc- racy from which they could blame minorities and
underachieving students for their lack of success in the public
schools. n a case study of B) student teachers in
6askatchewan, !anada, 2inney and >rr ()**$% concluded
that participants held students ?as responsible for their fates in
a morally neutral and open, unstrat- ified society@ (p. B"*%.
/ikewise, 'avis ()**$% discovered a simi- lar trend in her "-
year ethnographic study of B# preservice teachers shereported that participants suggested that individual factors,
such as ability or genetics, and a lack of familial values were
root causes for the low academic performance of minority
children, seeing schools as ?meritocratic systems@ and
assuming that all students ?have an eual opportunity to
succeed in school@ (p. $$1%. 9his myth of meritocracy blinded
preservice teachers to their own 7hite andGor socioeconomic
privileges.
A ?logic of individual difference@ (5ontecinos Kios, )***,
p. ")%, which reigned dominant across these studies, represents
one of the ?culturally sanctioned assumptions@ that maintains
a system of ineuity, assumptions identifiedby =ing ()**)% in
the previous time period. As an ideology, the belief that
individuals determine their own e&periences, successes, and
failures disre- gards the influence of racial and structural
ineuity. Adopting ideologies of individualism and
meritocracy, participants viewed multicultural education as a
problem of meeting the psychologi- cal learning needs of each
student rather than addressing aspects of in;ustice in society
(Apple, "##
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unstable,and Pconcernedwith survival@(p.
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e&perience with discrimination@ was the one to re;ect ideas of
multiculturalism. /awrence and 0unche ()**+% also reported
that ) of the $ participants in their case study refused to
abandon her racist views this participant clung to beliefs of
individualism and had the least e&periences interacting with
culturally diverse others. !ockrell, Placier, !ockrell, and
5iddleton ()***%, in their analysis of "$ preservice teachers,
noted that participants with limited e&periences interacting with
individuals from diverse cultural backgrounds believed that
schools should either assimi- late diverse groups or teachtolerance, rather than infuse multi- cultural education into the
curriculum.
>n the other hand, students who either had e&perienced
oppression or discrimination or had cross-cultural interactions
embraced concepts of multiculturalism (5c!all, )**$a%. 6mith,
5oallem, and 6herrill ()**% identified the kinds of e&periences
that were associated with their studentsgreater openness to cul-
tural diversity, which included having multicultural
friendships multicultural education travel, as in moving or
vacationing andpersonal e&periences with discrimination as a
child or an adult. >verall, the research in this category
suggests that preservice teachers with greater e&posure to
culturally diverse others and per- sonal e&periences with
discrimination are more open to multicul- tural ideas. ndeed,
6mith et al. proposed that those who resist multiculturalism
may simply lack cross-cultural e&periences.
Kesearch published from )**$ to )***points to the contin-
ued racist and uncritical demeanor of mostly Anglo-American
preservice teachers. >nly in a few studies did participants
e&hibit a general acceptance of and appreciation for cultural
diversity however, these studies also revealed that preservice
teachers held ?generic@ (5ontecinos Kios, )***% views of
cultural diversity, relegating multiculturalism to a set of mere
teaching strategies and techniues. 9he underlying cultural
assumptions of individu- alism and meritocracy continued to
limit the ways preservice teachers thought about student
achievement ('avis, )**$ 2inney
>rr, )**$% and even the nature of democracy (Koss Neager,
)***%. 'espite a few studies highlighting thepositive effects of
prior e&periences with cultural diversity, the lack of
comple&ity and deficit notions held by preservice teachersinhibits their criti- cal consciousness. n particular,participants
failed to recogni8e institutional ineuity and did not see how
their own biases and stereotypes as future teachers perpetuated
these ineuities.
Time Period 8: 9ontemporary Research *33;0
6ince the millennium, the research on preservice teachers
per- spectives on cultural diversity, social ;ustice, and
multicultural education has taken twopathways. 2irst, studies
document the ongoing struggle with the lack of comple&ity in
preservice teach- ers conceptions of multicultural issues and
perceptions on diverse populations. 6econd, researchers now
uestion which kinds of personal e&periences and what types
of instructional techniues best foster openness to diversity.
A lac1 of comple#ity in understanding multicultural issues.Preservice teachers continued to demonstrate a lack of
understanding of multicultural education and the processes
of institutionali8ed racism and oppression. After analy8ing the
results from a mi&ed- method study of 1+ students enrolled
in diversity courses, 5iddleton ("##"% concluded that although
participants ?identified
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a willingness to teach from a multicultural perspective,@ they
also e&hibited ?misunderstanding and misinterpretation of
multicul- tural education, diversity, and the attitudes and skills
needed for successful cross-cultural teaching@ (p. Bther researchers also documented this lack of critical
con- sciousness. 2or e&le, after administering to )!onnor reali8ed that participants
?silenced and muted interview data that contradicted their
assumptions@ that schools represent meritocracies with eual
opportunities for all students (p. 1$"%. 9hese findings suggest
that cultural assump- tions of individualism and meritocracy
are strongly embedded in preservice teachers. 9he studies from
this and previous time peri- ods provide evidence that these
?culturally sanctioned assump- tions, myths, andbeliefs@ (=ing,
)**), p. )B$% are indeed a ma;or root of ?dysconscious@
racism.
9ontradictory perceptions concerning di&erse populations and social
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American urban school%. Participants held lower e&pectations
for Fative American and African American students and
only wanted to teach in the 7hite suburban school.
/ikewise, 0aldwin, 0uchanan, and Kudisill ("##% found that
most of their
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Inlike the previous timeperiods, a consistent theme of ste-
reotypical and deficit thinking does not emerge from these stud-
ies. nstead, these studies appear to offer contradictory
findings about how preservice teachers view culturally
diverse popula- tions, suggesting the need for further research
in this area.
The importance of !ac1ground e#periences. 6tudies during this
time period demonstrated a link betweenpreservice teachers
prior e&periences interacting with culturally diverse others and
their support for multicultural education and teaching. 2irst,
'ee and enkin ("##"% e&plored characteristics of the )$#
partici- pants (study described earlier in this article% and
reasoned that having e&periences interacting with culturally
diverse others ?may be associated with attitudes favoring
cultural diversity in education@ (p. B$%. =ey factors included
living in culturally diverse neighborhoods and having cross-
cultural friendships. /ikewise, Adams, 0ondy, and =uhel
("##$% investigated atti- tudes of )1 participants who
participated in a service-learning tutoringpro;ect in an urban
school. 6tudents who reported posi- tive feelings about
working with minority students had prior knowledge or
e&perience working with diverse peers, children, or families.9hese e&periences included having had friends and social
interactions with culturally diverse others, prior commu- nity
volunteering andGor activism, and positive family attitudes
about issues of social ;ustice when growing up. 9hese studies
sug- gest that prior e&periences with cultural diversity may
predispose preservice teachers to greater acceptance of and
appreciation for cultural diversity.
9wo case studies show the importance of learning to reflect
on prior e&periences with culturally diverse others. 6mith
("###% traced the personal biographies of two 7hite student
teachers. 9he participant who embraced concepts of
multicultural educa- tion had grown up in a working-class
home and had e&perienced feeling marginali8ed as a 7hite
student in a predominantly 0lack middle school and as an
American student in a 3uam high school. 9hrough her
e&periences, she reflected on cultural diver- sity and
institutional ineuity, dismissing the myths of meritoc- racy
and individualism. n a similar vein, 3armon ("##
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in an urban school from their freshman year to their senior
year. Although participants initially held stereotypes and
lowered e&pectations for urban students, over time these
concerns faded. According to researchers, the decline indicated
that participants had become ?accustomed to the ethnic and
cultural diversity@ as a result of field e&periences. /ikewise,
0ell, orn, and Ko&as ("##% assessed changes in attitudes
regarding teaching in a cul- turally diverse school of B#
preservice teachers participating in a tutoring or mentoring
pro;ect. 9hey found that by the end of the e&perience, tutorsand mentors adopted more advanced views of cultural
diversity. 2inally, !ausey, 9homas, and Armento ("###%
concluded thatparticipating in a cross-cultural e&perience had a
positive impact on the multicultural disposition of the ""
preser- vice teachers involved in an urban-based internship.
9hey stressed the importance of reflection in the multicultural
development of participants, claiming that participants ?who
display a disposi- tion to thoughtfulness and reflection are
most likely candidates for such cognitive restructuring and new
learning@ (p.
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n the contemporary time period ("###J"##%, the problem
of the lack of comple&ity reached across several research
studies. Preservice teachers e&pressed very positive views about
cultural diversity but still held minimal understandings of
what cultural diversity means and reuires (5iddleton, "##"
7eisman 3ar8a, "##"%. 9his tendency toward
oversimplification can make multicultural ideas less
threatening, less political. Preservice teachers may readily
advocate and clamor for multicultural edu- cation that supports
a tolerance approach to diversity (6leeter 3rant, "##%without achieving the critical consciousness neces- sary to
dismantle structural ineuity and interrogate dominant
cultural assumptions embedded in these structural
arrangements.
7hen compared with early research on the lack of
tolerance and social interaction with culturally diverse others
(0ennett et al., )**# /aw /ane, )*1 5artin 7illiams-
'i&on, )**
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8/14/2019 Research in preservice teacher.doc
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aworth, "##"%. Keferring to data from the igher Lducation
nstitute at the Iniversity of !alifornia, /os Angeles, Kaines
("##"% reported that ?kids grew up in the *#s and ##s with
more daily interaction with other ethnicities and cultures
than ever before.@ 0ased on the sentiments of these popular
te&ts, the mil- lennial generation promises to embrace concepts
of critical mul- ticultural education.
0roido ("##
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8/14/2019 Research in preservice teacher.doc
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uncritical adoption of cultural assumptions that limit ones
criti- cal consciousness of structural and institutional
ineuity and 7hite privilege.
0eliefs in individualism and meritocracy work hand-in-hand
to construct a myth of euality. 9he concept of individualism
assumes that every person controls her or his own destiny,
outside of any structural or institutional barriers. A belief in
meritocracy supports the view that success in society and
schooling depends solely on ones own merit or hard work.
9he cultural myth of pulling oneself up by the bootstraps stillthrives in mainstream American popular culture. 9hese
beliefs allow individuals to blame oppressed peoples for
their ?failure@ in the system of schooling rather than to
recogni8e the system of failure embed- ded in institutional
practices that disfavors and disenfranchises minority groups.
Preservice teachers may feel that their achieve- ments resulted
from their hard work, without being aware that they have
been beneficiaries of institutional and social systems and
offered more resources from which toparticipate in school- ing
('avis, )**$ 5ueller >!onnor, "##%. >nly when pre-
service teachers confront beliefs in individualism and
meritocracy can they envision real social change.
Iniversal claims that preservice teachers are more open to
cul- tural diversity are challenged by the persistent problem of
the lack of comple&ity in their understandings of
multiculturalism. At the heart of the issue is whether preservice
teachers have the critical consciousness necessary to decipher
the cultural logic that rein- forces the systems of ineuity that
e&ist in our public schools. 5illennial generation college
students who uphold ?generic@ ide- als of multicultural
education and who lack critical awareness may stillbe asblind
to oppression as their less tolerant predeces- sors "# years ago.
)mplications for ?uture Research
2uture research must diligently unpack the nature ofmillennial generation preservice teachers perspectives on
cultural diversity, social ;ustice, and multiculturalism. Kesearch
studies will need to address three key areas. 2irst, future studies
ought to e&plore the influence of prior e&periences and social
interactions with cultur- ally diverse others on preservice
teachers openness to diversity. f millennial college students
actually do maintain intercultural relationships and have
multicultural e&periences, how do these preservice teachers
reflect upon and internali8e these e&periencesE 'o these
e&periences create opportunities to challenge stereo- types or
only to foster e&ceptionalismE 2uture research ought to begin
with the beliefs, attitudes, and prior e&periences that pre-
service teachers alreadypossess.
Kesearch should also focus on the specific teaching
practices and curricular components that foster changes in the
beliefs and attitudes of preservice teachers. 9hese studies will
need to account for the influence of incoming beliefs before
tracing the changes and development of the preservice
teachersviews. n addition, such studies should e&plore ways in
which preservice teachers can gain a sense of critical awareness
about issues of ineuity.
9hird, few studies investigated the ways in whichpreservice
teachers of color interacted with notions of critical
multicultural- ism. Kesearchers have suggested that preservice
teachers are alien- ated or silenced in multicultural educationclasses ('elpit, )**$ 4illegas 'avis, "##1%. 6ome studies
included in this synthesis
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imply that participants of color hold more comple& and
advanced views of multicultural education (!hi8hik
!hi8hik, "##$ !ockrell et al., )*** 'ee enkin, "##"%,
whereas other stud- ies (0akari, "##B /awrence 0unche,
)**+ Kodrigue8 6;ostrom, )**1 6ong, "##+% show that
students of color may be ?as susceptible to the same resistance
or ignorance as 7hite pre- service teachers QareR@ (0akari,
"##B, p. +$)%. 2uture research must address students of color
as sub;ects, actors in critical mul- ticultural education, rather
than as the ob;ects of multicultural education (5ontecinos,"##
-
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!hi8hik, L. 7., !hi8hik, A. 7. ("##"%. A path to social
changeC L&amining students responsibility, opportunity, and
emotion toward social ;ustice. Education and r!an Society, 8/(B%,
"1BJ"*.
!hi8hik, L. 7., !hi8hik, A. 7. ("##$%. Are you privileged
or oppressedE 6tudents conceptions of themselves and others.
r!anEducation, /("%, ))+J)rr, S. ()**$%. ?ve really learned a lot, but . . .@C
!ross- cultural understanding and teacher education in a racist
society.$ournal of TeacherEducation, 6-($%, B"JBBB.
2reire, P. ()***%.Pedagogy of the oppressed.Few NorkC !ontinuum.
2ry, P. 3., 5c=inney, /. S. ()**%. A ualitative study of
preservice teachers early field e&periences in an urban,culturally different school. r!an Education, 83("%, )1
-
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3oodwin, A. /. ()**
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8/14/2019 Research in preservice teacher.doc
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pro!lems andpossi!ilities(Brd ed.,pp. J*+%. AlbanyC 6tate
Iniversity of Few Nork Press.
5arshall, P. /. ()**+%. 5ulticultural teaching concernsC Few
dimen- sions in the area of teacher concerns researchE $ournal of
EducationalResearch, ,+(+%, B)JB*.
5artin, >., 7illiams-'i&on, K. ()**vercoming social
distancebarriersC Preservice teachers perceptions of racial ethnic
groups.$ournal of )ns tructional Psychology, 3(()%, +J1).
5ay, 6. ()**1%. !ritical multiculturalism and cultural differenceC
Avoiding essentialism. n 6. 5ay (Ld.%, 9ritical multiculturalism:
Rethin1ing mulB ticultural and antiracist education (pp. ))Jife in schools:An introduction to critical pedagogy
in the foundations of education (
-
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diversityC A novice and an e&perienced teacher.$ournal of Teacher
Education, /-(
-
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different racialGethnic backgroundsC 2indings from a !alifornia study.
$ournal of egro Educa tion, -6("%, )$)J)+B.
9ie88i, /. S., !ross, 0. L. ()**%. Itili8ing research on
prospective teachers beliefs to inform urban field e&periences.
r!anRe&ie',
3+("%, ))BJ)"$.
9orok, !. L., Aguilar, 9. L. ("###%. !hanges inpreservice teachers
knowledge andbeliefs about language issues. E"uity and E#cellence in
Education, 88("%, "
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#1 educational
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generate at least two nominees for the office.
A recommendation form appears below. 9he form must be signed by a current ALKA member. All recommendations
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