The Implications of a Quality Teacher Education Program Implementing a Multicultural Studies Curriculum: Combating the Old Diversity Paradigm of the 21st Century Classroom

Abstract

Education in the United States looks different to many different people. In fact, it is taught differently, depending on a number of different factors. The same goes for the teacher education preparation programs. Each college or university, in each state, has its own curriculum, producing a variety of new to the field teachers. Diversity in this country is vast and it is steadily growing, as are the schools; however, the teachers who populate the field are not. Multiculturalism and bridging the gap with the diversity in the schools and the teachers has become a dilemma that needs addressing. How can the teachers in front of the classroom relate and teach content to the student population, when the majority of the teachers are white and the classroom is multicultural and heavily diverse? This paper seeks to discuss the importance of having an efficient and adequate multicultural curriculum in collegiate teacher preparation programs. The idea is to solidify one multicultural curriculum that is synonymous to all states, so that all preservice teachers are learning and exposed to the same material and we begin to produce sound, proficient, self-aware, critically conscious, and culturally responsive educators.