Pre-service teacher disposition development: Cultural reciprocity and responsivity in early childhood special education practica

This qualitative Case Study explored the integrative process of pre-service teachers' disposition development for cultural reciprocity and responsiveness. Over the course of ten months, pre-service teachers completed two Early Childhood Special Education practica in diverse urban communities. The pre-service teachers were placed in public practica programs that served dual language learners with Individual Education Plans (IEPs) and Individual Family Service Plans (IFSPs). Practica interactions with parents, children, and staff integrated theory from fieldwork into weekly seminar discussions about dialogue skills and culture in Special Education. The pre-service teachers identified strategies they used collaboratively to welcome, make sense of, and create options within challenging interactions at their practica. Skilled Dialogue (Barrera and Kramer, 2009) was adapted as the framework for this study. The three pre-service teachers represented three different cultural and linguistic backgrounds in a multilingual, multicultural cohort of Masters and credential students in Early Childhood Special Education