Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Is Ignorance Bliss? Pre-service Teachers' Attitudes Toward Multicultural Education

Is Ignorance Bliss? Pre-service Teachers' Attitudes Toward Multicultural Education <p> In the United States, the number of school-aged students from diverse backgrounds is increasing, yet, according to research, the majority of teachers and those in teacher education programs continue to be predominantly Caucasian, middle class and English monolingual speakers. Studies have shown that many of those entering the field of teaching have a lack of knowledge of the experiences, needs, and resources of culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. As such, teacher preparation programs have developed and required that pre-service teachers complete a multicultural education course. This study explored the effect a multicultural education course has on pre-service teachers&apos; attitudes about the experiences, needs, and resources of culturally and linguistically diverse student populations as well as the value they place on multicultural education. Using anonymous pre and post test surveys, we began by examining the initial attitudes of pre-service teachers&apos; prior to taking a multicultural education course. We then studied the extent to which their attitudes changed subsequent to the instruction. The findings showed pre-service teachers&apos; attitudes improved as they developed an increased awareness of and appreciation toward other cultures. Even with this increased awareness and appreciation of students&apos; diverse cultures, the pre-service teachers expressed a sense of being ill equipped to teach students from diverse backgrounds. This sentiment also included a fear of being rejected by parents of minority students. Based upon the findings, implications and recommendations for program and curriculum revisions are discussed.</p> http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png The High School Journal University of North Carolina Press

Is Ignorance Bliss? Pre-service Teachers&apos; Attitudes Toward Multicultural Education

Loading next page...
 
/lp/university-of-north-carolina-press/is-ignorance-bliss-pre-service-teachers-apos-attitudes-toward-VFU5nV00jM

References

References for this paper are not available at this time. We will be adding them shortly, thank you for your patience.

Publisher
University of North Carolina Press
Copyright
Copyright © 2005 The University of North Carolina Press.
ISSN
1534-5157

Abstract

<p> In the United States, the number of school-aged students from diverse backgrounds is increasing, yet, according to research, the majority of teachers and those in teacher education programs continue to be predominantly Caucasian, middle class and English monolingual speakers. Studies have shown that many of those entering the field of teaching have a lack of knowledge of the experiences, needs, and resources of culturally and linguistically diverse student populations. As such, teacher preparation programs have developed and required that pre-service teachers complete a multicultural education course. This study explored the effect a multicultural education course has on pre-service teachers&apos; attitudes about the experiences, needs, and resources of culturally and linguistically diverse student populations as well as the value they place on multicultural education. Using anonymous pre and post test surveys, we began by examining the initial attitudes of pre-service teachers&apos; prior to taking a multicultural education course. We then studied the extent to which their attitudes changed subsequent to the instruction. The findings showed pre-service teachers&apos; attitudes improved as they developed an increased awareness of and appreciation toward other cultures. Even with this increased awareness and appreciation of students&apos; diverse cultures, the pre-service teachers expressed a sense of being ill equipped to teach students from diverse backgrounds. This sentiment also included a fear of being rejected by parents of minority students. Based upon the findings, implications and recommendations for program and curriculum revisions are discussed.</p>

Journal

The High School JournalUniversity of North Carolina Press

Published: Dec 20, 2005

There are no references for this article.