Ines marquez chisholm

Teacher Preparation for Cultural Competency

Since minority students increasingly populate American classrooms, teacher preparation programs must face the reality that all teachers must be culturally competent Moreover, in a society where the ubiquitous computer is fast becoming a prevalent part of the educational environment, all teachers must become computer competent The preparation of computer competent teachers for culturally diverse classrooms must reflect a convergence of multicultural and technological knowledge, skills, and practices. For instance, teachers should review software from the perspective of 1) technology (e.g. ease of use, quality of sound and graphics, memory load, quality of on-screen help), 2) teaching (e.g. accuracy of information, language and reading difficulty, age appropriateness, cognitive load), and 3) multicultural education (e.g. content cultural bias, learning styles supported, implicit cultural assumptions, tacit cultural values).

If the aim of multicultural teacher education programs is the preparation of culturally competent teachers, then cultural competency needs clarification. Cultural competency evolves through a process of self awareness, knowledge, sensitivity, and understanding. Culturally competent teachers feel comfortable working with diverse student populations, can adapt teaching practices to cultural differences and learning preferences, and attempt to nurture academic and cognitive growth through equitable practices. Though they cannot be thoroughly knowledgeable about all cultures, they accept cultural ambiguity, cultivate effective interpersonal cross-cultural communication, and create a culturally sensitive and cognitively challenging environment

How can teacher education programs prepare culturally competent teachers? Because cultural competency encompasses a variety of knowledge and skills, a single course in multicultural education will not produce culturally competent teachers. Cultural competency is an evolutionary, life-long process requiring time, reflection, and direct experience with diverse populations. It requires direct, personal interaction with a variety of culturally diverse populations. The development of cultural competency also requires the infusion of multicultural philosophy, practice, and content across all areas of teacher education (American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education Commission on Multicultural Education, 1973; Grant, 1983; Sims, 1983; Dottin, 1984). Nonetheless, teacher education lays the foundation for life-long multicultural learning by providing information, relevant experiences, and opportunities for exploration and reflection.

Accordingly, teacher education programs should offer pre-service teachers multiple and varied experiences with racial and ethnic minorities, as well as with the physically and learning disabled. These direct interpersonal experiences, both within the larger community and at local schools, should be an integral part of course work and field experiences. Ideally students could spend extended periods abroad where they would experience first-hand the fears, frustrations, satisfactions, and wonder of living in an alien environment In reality, providing such experiences is seldom practical or possible. Instead, students can participate within local community settings in a wide range of cross-cultural experiences. They can:

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  observe classrooms in a variety of socio-economic, racial, and ethnic community settings;
  
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  tutor at community centers or at local schools;
  
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  volunteer at homeless shelters and soup kitchens;
  
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  participate in public community fairs and ethnic holiday celebrations;
  
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  visit parents during field experiences;
  
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  interview minority members;
  
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  visit minority churches and social organizations;
  
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  spend a week with host families;
  
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  shop at ethnic food stores.
  

Activities such as these, when coupled with journals, diaries, and group discussions, lead future teachers to reflect on their feelings, expectations, observations, and learning.

Concomitant with direct experiences, pre-service teachers need information about

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  cross-cultural verbal and non-verbal communication;
  
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  cultural learning preferences;
  
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  expectations about schooling;
  
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  cultural differences in how people view learning;
  
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  cultural values and expectations;
  
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  family roles and family values across cultures that influence learning;
  
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  the history and contributions of many people to human society;
  
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  the contributions of diverse people to the various disciplines;
  
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  the similarities, differences, adaptations, and borrowing in music, art, and literature across cultures.
  

Multiculturally infused liberal arts courses in cultural anthropology, sociology, psychology, world history, and diversity can provide information and insight on these and related topics. This broad-based knowledge not only provides teachers with information they can share with their students, but also broadens pre-service teachers’ perspective of human diversity.

Through multicultural education courses, future teachers expand their knowledge and explore how diversity impacts classroom learning and teaching. Comprehensive multicultural courses can explore, among other things:

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  the relationship between cultural child-rearing practices and how children behave and learn in classrooms;
  
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  the impact of culture and gender on what people believe, value, and expect of teachers and schooling;
  

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  attitudes towards gender, ethnicity, language, and exceptionality within the school setting;
  

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  cultural and individual differences in learning styles and how to accommodate these differences within the classroom;
  
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  covert and overt bias towards age, gender, ethnicity, language, and disability in teaching materials;
  
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  interdisciplinary methods and strategies to meet the needs of diverse populations.
  

Multiculturally infused methods courses equip emerging teachers with the necessary practical skills, techniques, procedures, and processes for teaching in culturally diverse classrooms. These courses provide an opportunity to coalesce the multiple and broad knowledge acquired through liberal arts, multicultural education, and educational foundation courses. They prepare teachers to:

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  teach content to culturally and linguistically diverse students;
  
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  teach language arts to culturally and linguistically diverse populations;
  
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  adapt instruction for a variety of learning preferences;
  
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  identify learning styles through formal and informal means;
  
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  use alternative assessment methods that neither lower academic expectations nor penalize students for lack of English language mastery or cognitive preferences;
  
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  distinguish between learning disabilities and linguistic or cultural differences.
  

Application of knowledge and skills to multicultural classroom teaching occurs during student teaching. At this stage, prospective teachers demonstrate their knowledge of children, learning, and teaching. Student teaching is a time for refinement of skills, synthesis of knowledge, and sheltered attempts to apply what was learned through the teacher preparation program. Consequently, student teaching should occur in culturally diverse settings that reflect the reality of our changing demographics.

Ultimately, the preparation of culturally competent teachers must occur within a university that embraces diversity in all areas. A university that welcomes differences in race, ethnicity, gender, and culture, affords students multiple opportunities to experience a diversity of ideas, practices, skills, and ' talents. If indeed we as educators value cultural diversity and cultural* competency, then our institutions must reflect our belief. If universities claim to value diversity, but do not hold it central to their mission, then educators are asking teachers to do as we say and not as we do.