'Why's This Man Making Me Feel Racist?' Teacher Candidates' Reflections on Diversity Course Texts

National accreditation standards require all educator preparation programs to consider carefully the degree to which their curricular and field experiences cultivate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to educate all learners. Therefore, teacher educators must think critically about the course products and pedagogical processes used to prepare culturally responsive educators. This pilot study investigates a two-part facilitated reflection assignment designed to explore graduate teacher candidates' perspectives related to working with culturally and linguistically diverse students, families, and communities. Using a facilitated writing prompt, the authors gathered data about the ways in which candidates report course texts confirming, clarifying, or complicating the beliefs they brought into the course. Thematic analysis of participants' reflection papers suggest that texts about (a) power, privilege, and difference; (b) culturally responsive pedagogy; and (c) cultural identity development were particularly influential.
Introduction The literature on educator preparation programs (EPPs) is replete with scholarship describing multilayered concerns about the cultural discontinuities between teacher candidates and the increasingly diverse student population awaiting them [...]