Creating Inclusive Excellence: A Model for Culturally Relevant Teacher Education

With the increasing cultural diversity in the nation’s public schools, scholars have argued the significance of Teacher Education (TE) programs that explicitly focus on issues of diversity across teacher development. Consequently, TE programs must consider: How do we prepare teachers to teach diverse populations of students successfully? As teacher educators, we are committed to supporting the effective preparation of teachers in meeting the needs of all students, but especially those students and teachers who occupy classrooms in urban settings. Therefore, we offer a model case study framed by culturally relevant pedagogy that describes our efforts to bridge the gaps between theory and practice. The purpose of this model, Creating Inclusive Excellence in Teacher Education is to provide strategies and actions for effectively meeting the needs of diverse learners. Keywords: culturally relevant teacher education, critical teacher reflection, teacher educatio