Register | Senior Sequence

Chi Dang

Academic Year: 2010-2011

From Yesterday’s Novice Pre-Service Teachers to Tomorrow’s Educators

Area of Concentration

  • Public Health, Safety and Welfare

Key Terms:

teacher preparation programs, multicultural education, education reform, diversity

Significance/Broader Impact:

I choose this topic because I am interested in examining how our educators are being prepared in addressing the needs of a growing population of diverse students. In my opinion, many teacher preparation programs neglect this important issue, which can later create problems inside and outside the classroom. I hope to contribute to current multicultural educational literature that will later prepare future teachers to become culturally responsive.

References

Butler-Byrd, N., Nieto, J., & Senour, M. N. (2006). Working successfully with diverse students and communities. Urban Education, 41(4), 376-401.

Ladson-Billings, G.J. (2001). Crossing over to Canaan: The journey of new teachers in diverse classrooms. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Ladson-Billings, G.J. (2005). Is the team all right? Diversity and teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education, 56(2), 229-234.

Ladson-Billings, G.J. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Education Research Journal, 35, 465-491.

Ladson-Billings, G.J. (1995). Toward A critical race theory of education. Teachers College Record, 97, 47-68.

 

Links:

http://www-tep.ucsd.edu/graduate/grad.shtml

http://www.ctc.ca.gov/

Fall SRP Proposal Abstract

This proposal outlines a research strategy to examine how teacher education programs incorporate teaching methods that successfully create culturally competent and responsive teachers.  Current research suggests that teachers must address demographically changing classroom due to increased immigration. This raises fundamental problem of the fragmentation and superficial treatment of diversity that currently prevails in teacher education. This proposal outlines a research strategy aimed at addressing how teacher educators implement issues of student diversity in their classroom to help pre-service teachers become culturally responsive in their classrooms. Specifically, the study will be a case study of University of California San Diego’s Education Studies Masters of Education program. This research will contribute to teacher preparation education literature.

Winter Senior Research Project (SRP) Abstract

This research project examines how teacher education programs incorporate teaching methods that successfully create culturally competent and responsive teachers.  Current research suggests that teachers in the United States must address demographically changing classrooms.  This raises a fundamental problem of the superficial treatment of diversity that currently prevails in teacher education programs. Using the University of California San Diego’s Education Studies Masters of Education and Teaching Credentialing program as a case study, this project utilizes data from interviews and observations to address how the program’s teacher educators implement issues of equity and student diversity in their classroom.  Specifically, this project examines how the program’s teacher educators help prepare pre-service teachers to become culturally responsive in their classrooms. Ultimately, this research will contribute to teacher preparation literature by providing examples of methods that one teacher preparation program uses in assisting their pre-service candidates in using equitable teaching practices in diverse classrooms.

Study's Major Findings and Contributions

Obama’s education reform proposal currently focuses on elevating the educational profession by focusing on the recruitment, preparation, development and reward system for effective teachers. In addition, Obama’s proposal prioritizes that all schools must meet the needs of diverse learners by providing appropriate and equitable access to all students.  In light of this, the primary findings from data collected in this analysis show that a comprehensive teacher education program involves multiple components in order to prepare our next generation of teachers.  These components consist of a teacher education program where all the teacher educators are culturally responsive teachers who work closely together as a team to consistently teach themes of equity and diversity throughout the whole teacher preparation curriculum.  In addition, these teacher educators serve as both lecturers and supervisors of the pre-service teachers while they are student teaching in the field. Having teacher educators serve both roles reinforces the pre-service teacher’s learning in the classroom and application during their field experience.  In terms of teaching style, an effective teacher education program consists of teacher educators who viewing diversity in the classroom as a strength that can be built upon when teaching.  Also, teacher educators view equity in the classroom as providing all students equitable access to education.  Such teacher educators teach their pre-service teachers to gain knowledge about their student’s backgrounds and use them in their instruction to help their students build upon what they know.  Ultimately, a teacher education program that is effective in teaching pre-service teachers to be culturally responsive prepares them to see themselves as agents of educational change, which means that they assist in making education more responsive to the needs of all their students.

Evidence

I collected data from multiple sources: course observations, intensive faculty interviews, and course syllabi.
I will use my internship experience with the Education Studies department as observational evidence. For example, my internship will involve me compiling data (teacher reports) about the program and assessing whether the program satisfies the standards required by the California Commission on Teaching Credentialing requirements and if they can renew their accredited status. Because of the program’s emphasis on equity and diversity training, they must state how their program addresses and implements this theme in accordance to state standards. My internship will provide me with the teacher educator reports that will allow me to assess how the program integrates themes of diversity and equity while meeting the state requirements. I will also use the state standards from the CA Commission of Teacher Crendentialling for education programs as evidence.
In preparation for my lecture observation, I will be in contact with the course professor and with their permission, I will study their syllabi and hopefully lesson plan before the lecture. If the professor has taught the class before, I will ask them about how they have implemented discussions on equity and diversity in their past lectures and how the pre-service teachers typically responded. This allows me to prepare for what to look for in terns of kinds of responses, questions, and concerns the pre-service teacher and the teacher educator have in the classroom. During my lecture observations, I will record my observations with two-column logs; with the left-hand column containing the words, actions, and gestures that the teacher educators make, and the right-hand column containing the pre-service teacher’s words, actions, and gestures. On the far right margin I will record the time at five-to-seven minute intervals. The observation logs will contain no evaluation or interpretation of the teachers’ or student’s words, actions or gestures. The criteria that I will use for the observation logs would consist of words that address equity, diversity, multiculturalism, social justice, etc. The documentation of these words will show me how often these issues are mentioned in the course. From there I will go back to the educator’s course goals and lesson plan to see if my observations align.
At the end of the observation I will share what I have recorded on the log and ask the teacher educator a series of questions: (a) “How close did the lesson resemble what you planned to do?” (b) “What do you think did not work as well as you have liked” (c) How do you intend to follow this up? I will also ask the pre-service students if they wanted some suggestions. Within twenty-four to forty-eight hours I will write a summary of my observation (Ladson-Billings, 146). From these questions and observations I expect to find the constructive comments on the cyclical process in where teacher educators develop, implement, review, and edit their teaching methods to address issues of equity and diversity.
I also intend on conducting extensive interviews with the ten teacher educators of the master program. I intend to conduct these interviews either through the phone or in person during winter break and the first two weeks of winter quarter. Interview questions will include: (a) Why did you decide to become a teacher educator? (b) Which courses have you taught in the master’s program? (c) How do you incorporate issues of equity and diversity in your classroom? (d) What is the theoretical framework in which you base your teaching style and how does that affect the ways in which you incorporate issues of diversity and equity? (e) What are the challenges that you have experienced in incorporating pedagogical methods into your teachings? (f) As you look at the program in general, what do you se as some of its strengths? (g) What do you see as some of the program’s weaknesses? (h) From your experience, how do you think your student’s have changed from taking your course(s)? (i) Is there anything else about the program you want to comment on? From these questions I am primarily looking for the methods and challenges they have encountered in developing their course, while implementing Teaching Credentialing state requirements and program requirements.

Spatial Dimension

The spatial dimensions of this project will examine UCSD’s Masters in Education and Teacher Credential Program, one of many UC Teacher Credential programs in California. By looking at the teaching methods of teacher educators in the program, I will have a better understanding of how this teacher credential program are preparing their pre-service teachers to serve their diverse students in our urban community.

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