Main Content
Session Information
10 SES 04.5 PS, General Poster Session
General Poster Session
Contribution
With the increased diversity in elementary and secondary classrooms and the progresively implementation of inclusive education in ordinary schools, teacher training institutions have been challenged to make changes in their programs to better prepare preservice teachers for educating diverse learners. The number of students with diverse educational needs receiving all or the majority of their education in regular classrooms has increased dramatically in the last decades (Office of Special Education, 2013; MEC, 2015); consequently, due to the rise in inclusion practices it is imperative that preservice teachers be prepared for teaching diverse students inclusively (Allday, Neilsen-Gatti, & Hudson, 2013).
Research has traditionally indicated that general education teachers appear to be ill prepared to work with diverse students (Scruggs & Matropieri, 1996) and that they also lack the skills to adjust or adapt curriculum and instruction to reach all the students (Chiner & Cardona, 2012; Scott, Vitale, & Masten, 1998). Researchers have usually investigated preservice teachers beliefs and attitudes regarding diversity and inclusion (Avramidis & Norwich, 2002) but they have overlooked at how teacher education institutions are really compromised with their teacher education for diversity training. More specifically, research has overlooked at how teacher education programs are addresing specific content, knowledge and pedagogies of difference to make their preservice teachers enter the profession adequately equipped with the knowledge and skills necessary to teach in diverse inclusive classrooms (Gurin, Hurtado, & Gurin, 2002; Hurtado, 2001). As some researchers argue, preservice preparation is the best time to address this issue (e.g., Forlin, 2013). If preparation for diversity and inclusive practices depends largely upon teaching level, area of certification, and institutional compromise (Gehrke & Cocchiarella, 2013; Kim, 2011), there is a high pressure to learn if colleges of education are sensitive and show commitment to diversity.
Today hundreds of colleges and universities recognize the educational value of diversity and view diversity as an essential resource for optimizing teaching and learning. However, empirical data of the impact of diversity on students growth and teaching emain scarce. The theory of diversity as a compelling interest created an opportunity and a need for institutions to demonstrate its educational benefits (Gurin, 1999), but researchers have not examined enough whether faculty members and student teachers actually find in their institutions a real compromise with diversity and its pedagogical implications reflected in their teacher education programs.
This paper will present the results of a student survey. Student teachers from two different institutions were asked about their perceptions of the value of diversity in their respective colleges of education and its impact in classrooms. Specifically, the study addresses the following research questions: (1) Do student teachers believe that their institutions value diversity?; (2) What do student teachers believe the benefits of diversity are?; and (3) Do the value of diversity affect faculty classroom practices?
The study also examined to what extent socio-cultural contextual differences and previous experience with diversity could influence student teachers responses.
Method
Expected Outcomes
References
Allday, R. A., Neilsen-Gatti, S., & Hudson, T. M. (2013). Preparation for inclusion in teacher education preservice curricula. Teacher Education and Special Education, 36(4), 298-311. Avramidis, E., & Norwich, B. (2002). Teachers’ attitudes towards integration/inclusion: A review of the literature. European Journal of Special Needs Education, 17(2), 129-147. American Council on Education and American Association of University Professors. (2000). Does diversity make a difference? Three research studies on diversity in college classrooms. Washington, DC: American Council on Education and American Association of University Professors. Chiner, E., & Cardona, M. C. (2012). Teachers’ use of inclusive practices in Spain. The International Journal of Learning Diversity and Identities, 19(1), 29-45. Forlin, C. (2013). Issues of inclusive education in the 21st Century. Journal of Learning Science, 6, 67-81. Gehrke, R. S., & Cocchiarella, M. (2013). Preservice special and general educators’ knowledge of inclusion. Teacher Education and Special Education, 36(3), 204-216. Gurin, P. (1999). Selections from The Compelling Need for Diversity in Higher Education, Expert Reports in Defense of the University of Michigan. Excellence and Equity in Education, 32(2), 36-62. Gurin, P., Dey, E. L., Hurtado, S., & Gurin, G. (2002). Diversiy and higher education: Theory and impact on student outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72(3), 330-366. Hurtado, S. (2001). Linking diversity and educational purpose: How diversity affects the classroom environment and student development. In G. Orfield (Ed.), Diversity challenged: Evidence on the impact of affirmative action (pp.187-203). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Publishing Group. Kim, J. R. (2011). Influence of teacher preparation programs on preservice teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 15(3), 355-377. Milem, J. P. (2001). Increasing diversity benefits: How campus climate and teaching methods affects student outcomes. In G. Orfield (Ed.), Diversity challenged: Evidence on the impact of affirmative action (pp. 233-249). Cambridge, MA: Harvard Education Publishing Group. Office of Institutional Research, UMN (2017). Enrollment data for Fall 2016. Retrieved from http://www.oir.umn.edu/student/enrollment/term/1169/current/show_all Scott, B. J., Vitale, M. R., & Masten, W. G. (1998). Implementing instructional adaptations for students with disabilities in inclusive classrooms. A literature review. Remedial and Special Education, 19, 106-119. Scruggs, T. E., & Mastropieri, M. A. (1996). Teacher perceptions of mainstream/inclusion, 1958-1995: A research synthesis. Exceptional Children, 63, 59-74. Universidad de Alicante (2016). La UA en cifras. Retrieved from https://utc.ua.es/es/datos/la-ua-en-cifras-anual.html
Programme by Networks, ECER 2021
00. Central Events (Keynotes, EERA-Panel, EERJ Round Table, Invited Sessions)
Network 1. Continuing Professional Development: Learning for Individuals, Leaders, and Organisations
Network 2. Vocational Education and Training (VETNET)
Network 3. Curriculum Innovation
Network 4. Inclusive Education
Network 5. Children and Youth at Risk and Urban Education
Network 6. Open Learning: Media, Environments and Cultures
Network 7. Social Justice and Intercultural Education
Network 8. Research on Health Education
Network 9. Assessment, Evaluation, Testing and Measurement
Network 10. Teacher Education Research
Network 11. Educational Effectiveness and Quality Assurance
Network 12. LISnet - Library and Information Science Network
Network 13. Philosophy of Education
Network 14. Communities, Families and Schooling in Educational Research
Network 15. Research Partnerships in Education
Network 16. ICT in Education and Training
Network 17. Histories of Education
Network 18. Research in Sport Pedagogy
Network 19. Ethnography
Network 20. Research in Innovative Intercultural Learning Environments
Network 22. Research in Higher Education
Network 23. Policy Studies and Politics of Education
Network 24. Mathematics Education Research
Network 25. Research on Children's Rights in Education
Network 26. Educational Leadership
Network 27. Didactics – Learning and Teaching
Network 28. Sociologies of Education
Network 29. Reserach on Arts Education
Network 30. Research on Environmental und Sustainability Education
Network 31. Research on Language and Education (LEd)
Network 32. Organizational Education
The programme is updated regularly (each day in the morning)
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