| A continuous concern of the American education system is the challenge it faces to offer a quality education for all students (Hollins & Guzman, 2005). As the United States is becoming increasingly culturally diverse, at the same time, the majority of teacher education students are White, female, and middle class (Brown-Jeffy & Cooper, 2012; Chambers, 2010; Howard, 2010; United States Department of Education Statistics, 2010). Teacher education programs have assumed the responsibility to prepare America's teaching force to be well equipped to teach in these increasingly diverse classroom settings. In order to fulfill this demand, teacher preparation programs are engaging in pedagogical practices that encourage cultural competency through multicultural education (Morey, Benzuk, & Chiero, 1997). This qualitative case study aimed to examine three White student teachers whose teacher education coursework works to prepare them for diverse, multicultural settings. The purpose of this study was to explore these preservice teachers' perceptions of the theories learned in their university coursework and how they were applying that theory in their guided practice teaching experience. Data sources consisted of interviews, observations, and document analysis. Data was triangulated and analyzed inductively. Data revealed that although student teachers were attempting to apply practices, there was inconsistency in the implementation of multicultural education theory---specifically culturally relevant pedagogy. Findings suggest that it would be beneficial for teacher educators to encourage critical consciousness through racial dialogue and provide purposeful learning experiences for preservice teachers to enact culturally relevant pedagogy to assist them in making meaning of their practice. |
