Pre-Service Teachers’ Perception and Knowledge of Multicultural Education

It is estimated that by the year 2020, African American, Latino, Asian American, and Native American groups will comprise 40% of the population. This implies that we must be equipped to teach students from both genders and various ethnic groups efficiently through educational systems that promote diversity, equality, and empowerment. Due to the teaching force becoming more female and white, while the student population is becoming more diverse, teacher educators and pre-service teachers need to learn and accept that diversity and multicultural education goes beyond celebrating holidays and sampling ethnic dishes. Therefore, it is paramount that teachers increase their awareness about issues related to multicultural education. The purpose of this research study was to examine an education program and its job in promoting and facilitating tactics that embrace multicultural education ideologies. Thus, a teacher education training program\u27s efforts to provide pre-service teachers with knowledge and experiences in issues related to diversity and multicultural education were investigated. Three questions guided this study (a) Do student teaching/internship experiences affect teachers\u27 attitudes about multicultural education and diversity, (b) Do pre-service teachers believe they are knowledgeable about cultural diversity and teaching minority students, and (c) Do pre-service teachers believe their internship address issues of diversity? An analysis of survey and focus group data indicated that teachers believed they were knowledgeable about multicultural education. However, the data gathered also indicated the need for teacher education programs to improve their efforts in providing pre-service teachers with opportunities to learn and apply their knowledge in teaching minority students