Abstract
Critics of teacher education programs argue these programs perpetuate a middle-class white discourse that privilege Eurocentric approaches to curriculum development and implementation. Such approaches prepare pre-service teachers for the status quo, often represented in normative standards of whiteness with little consideration towards addressing issues of equality, diversity, and race. Some teacher education programs across the nation have heeded the call for reform. These programs incorporate culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) within the curriculum, aiming to produce practitioners with a CRP mindset and dispositions. Indeed, much research documents teacher education programs that incorporate various elements of CRP so as to adequately prepare teachers to educate diverse student populations.
Adding to such research, this chapter provides a critical analysis of a radical reform effort in teacher preparation that resulted in the transformation of a traditional college of education in Western Texas. The college is now a nationally recognized leader in providing candidates with the competencies and dispositions to work in pre-K-12 classrooms with diverse populations of students. The analysis reveals how the program integrates intense content knowledge with equity pedagogy to equip pre-service teachers with deep understanding, adequate skills and emerging cultural competencies thus promoting academic success for all learners.
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Maina, F., Zaier, A. (2020). Educating Against the Grain: A West Texas Teacher Preparation Program Champions Radical Reform. In: Veenis, J.C., Robertson, S., Berry, J.R. (eds) Multiculturalism and Multilingualism at the Crossroads of School Leadership. Policy Implications of Research in Education, vol 11. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-54750-9_8
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