Teacher Education: Multicultural Education

"This book intends to find a common path for diverse approaches meant to reach a better vision on the future of education, to adapt it to the most spectacular and rapid changes in the modern world. Remarkable education specialists bring their research into this volume that collects the best ideas and solutions presented in the 19th Biennial Conference of the International Study Association on Teachers and Teaching (Sibiu, Romania, July 2019). The 17 chapters of this book promote a hopeful vision on the future of education as proclaimed in the title: Education beyond Crisis: Challenges and Directions in a Multicultural World. The volume focuses on three major ideas: defining directions for the future of teaching, challenges of the contemporary teaching context, and teaching in a multicultural world. The volume itself stands for the multicultural approach of education, as the contributors propose a unitary picture on education, in the contexts of national educative programs or inclusive education for the refugee children. Well-known researchers answer important questions on the effectiveness of educational reforms and education policies in different countries. They take into account the student voice or the teachers' opinions in teaching and designing the new curriculum. The volume includes researches based on case studies, interviews, surveys, qualitative analysis, and original researching instruments."

Born during the turbulent years of the 1960s, multicultural education has attempted to help students acquire a more sophisticated understanding of the pluralistic populations of the United States. And as the United States becomes increasingly multicultural, it is necessary for students to learn to live and work effectively with members of different racial and ethnic groups. Each state's experiences with multicultural education vary, and states have emphasized multicultural education to greater and lesser degrees. This reference book is a guide to multicultural education initiatives in the 50 states. After an introductory essay on the development of multicultural education programs, the volume presents alphabetically arranged entries on the status of multicultural education in each state. Because the programs in each state have developed in response to the particular characteristics and experiences of the state's population, each entry begins with a brief history that places special emphasis on the state's cultural groups. The second section discusses the state's educational system, since the system provides a framework for the state's multicultural education initiatives. The third section analyzes the state's creation and implementation of multicultural education policies and programs and draws on responses to a questionnaire. Each entry closes with bibliographic references, and the volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography.

The cultural identities of teachers inevitably influence the interactions they have with their students. These relationships, in turn, impact teaching and learning processes. Many low-income, racial, ethnic, and linguistic minority students are failing to receive the same quality of education as their more privileged counterparts. Supported by over 20 years of research, this book offers guidance for enhancing teachers' inclusive instructional practices by using the Dispositions for Culturally Responsive Pedagogy Scale (DCRPS). Developed by the authors, this is the only validated scale that measures the diversity-related beliefs, values, and attitudes that underpin multicultural teaching practices. The DCRPS measures three domains: Dispositions for Community, Dispositions for Social Justice, and Dispositions for Praxis.  Schooling Multicultural Teachers offers a historical overview of the multicultural education context, followed by practical examples of how the DCRPS can support program evaluation, as well as guide pre-service and in-service teacher development across diverse programs and demographic contexts. Educators are provided with examples of how to interpret DCRPS responses, how to combine the DCRPS with other resources, and how to customize professional development that builds on teachers' dispositional strengths while also addressing community-specific needs.  By offering a resource for program assessment and teacher development, this book is an invaluable text for education administrators, professional development coordinators, and teacher educators.