| This study uncovered the multicultural perspectives of a diverse group of pre-service students as they engaged with multicultural material in an introductory education course. It specifically documented the students' perspectives on issues of difference regarding race, ethnicity, culture, language, social class, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age and ability. The group of participants consisted of four females and three male participants. Four of the participants were White Euro-Americans, including one of Jewish heritage. Three of the participants were people of color who described themselves as African-Haitian-Native-American, Korean-American, and Puerto Rican-American. The participants were students in my course, and the data were drawn from classroom observations, class assignments related to issues of difference, written reflections, and individual interviews.; One research question and three sub-questions steered my investigation: How do education students respond to diversity issues in an introductory pre-service course? (a) How do pre-service students situate themselves in a diverse society? (b) What do pre-service students take into consideration when addressing multicultural issues in a classroom setting? and (c) What questions and concerns, if any, do selected pre-service students raise about teaching students of diverse backgrounds? The research specifically explored the students' responses to multicultural classroom material and classroom activity which involved: the reading and discussion of autobiographical texts; the reading of Keith Gilyard's, Voices of the Self, and Beverly D. Tatum's article, “Talking about Race, Learning about Racism: The application of Racial Identity Development Theory in the Classroom” (Tatum, 1992); and participation in the “Multicultural Circle” classroom activity. My analysis was based on three interpretative frameworks: Autobiographical writing, multicultural education, and racial identity theory. The students' engagement revealed their beliefs, values, assumptions, and levels of understanding and awareness of issues of diversity. The findings identified multicultural perspectives which were sometimes individual interpretations, sometimes ran across racial/ethnic boundaries, and sometimes formed patterns within the racial and ethnic groups.; The investigation found that race, culture, and language loomed large in the personal experiences of students of color, while they did not carry the same level of weight for the White students. At the same time, learning and retaining the Italian language of her forebearers was significant for one White participant. The research also revealed some of the students' perspectives on Standard English vs. Black English. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)... |
