ERIC Number: EJ1387559
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2023
Pages: 20
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1046-560X
EISSN: EISSN-1573-1847
Developing STEM Teachers' Cultural Competence through an Urban Teaching Curriculum: A Cultural Border Crossing Experience
Journal of Science Teacher Education, v34 n3 p267-286 2023
Many studies have argued the need for culturally competent teachers in the classroom as learners' demography shifts toward more diversity. The teaching workforce remains predominantly unchanged, with more White teachers than other races or ethnic groups. Many teacher preparation programs use multicultural education or equity and diversity courses that focus on current issues and perspective; however, few use curriculums that focus on urban teaching or integrate an immersive experience to enhance their preservice teachers' cultural competency. This paper highlights an urban teaching curriculum that uses a holistic praxis of formal--theory-based and informal--practice-based immersive learning experience to prepare preservice teachers for diversified urban classrooms. The study examined the impact of the curriculum on preservice teachers' development of cultural knowledge base leading to cultural competency. This well-crafted praxis offer rich and authentic learning experiences resulting in the positive transformation of the preservice teacher's beliefs, dispositions, and self-efficacy to be culturally aware and responsive. The findings indicate that cultural isolation and deficit perspectives contributed to the participants' lack of cultural knowledge. However, the immersive experience presented through the curriculum provided the preservice teachers' access to authentic informal learning that transformed their worldviews and enhanced their self-efficacy to teach in urban high-need settings.
Descriptors: STEM Education, Cultural Awareness, Preservice Teachers, Teacher Education Programs, Student Diversity, Multicultural Education, Equal Education, Urban Education, Teacher Education Curriculum, Holistic Approach, Knowledge Base for Teaching, Student Attitudes, Attitude Change, Informal Education, Authentic Learning, Self Efficacy, Action Research, Culturally Relevant Education
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A