| The development of multicultural science teaching practices is becoming more crucial as the student population in public schools becomes more diverse. Multicultural teaching practices are even more important when disparities in science achievement can be delimited by racial, ethnic or cultural affiliation. Using a phenomenological perspective, this study explored science pre-service teachers' sense of self after a year of teacher education. Content analysis of themes arising from the study identified three areas specific to their sense of self: (a) the unconscious influence of beliefs about science culture, (b) the fundamental beliefs of the U.S. middle class, and (c) superficial beliefs about multicultural teaching practices. These themes illuminated the essence of the phenomenon: emerging internal contradictions challenging the sense of self. |
