What student teachers learn about multicultural education from their cooperating teachers

Source: Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 24, Issue 1, January 2008, Pages 43-58

 
Teacher education has struggled to better prepare beginning teachers for an increasingly diverse student population. This research examines the role that cooperating teachers play in developing multicultural/equity pedagogy knowledge and skills among student teachers.

Five cooperating teachers working in California, USA, each of whom had extensive and successful experiences teaching multicultural/equity pedagogy curricula, were asked to describe how they encourage their student teachers to engage in the materials and strategies they promote.

Generally, the cooperating teachers reported that their most successful student teachers were those who came to understand the difference between expecting high-quality work from their students and sympathizing and identifying with their students’ plight as low-income Latino children. More specifically, they noted that student teachers had difficulty leading instructional conversations in small groups of students.