Cultural diversity: Development of preservice teachers\u27 learning and understanding of multiculturalism in a teacher education program

The purpose of this study was to investigate preservice teachers\u27 beliefs and attitudes about teaching culturally diverse students while acquiring professional knowledge in a teacher education program. I examined preservice teachers\u27 conception of multicultural education in a teacher education program: how their pedagogical principles of multicultural education compared to and further informed what is prescribed by multicultural scholars in the field, and what implications these findings hold for theory and practice. Using mixed methods, qualitative (phenomenology) and quantitative analysis, I sought to define, describe, and compare course field placement knowledge and experience in three courses, and interpret categorical themes within the practice of multicultural learning and teaching as well as relationships among and between courses in a teacher education program. This study contributed to a deeper understanding of what constitutes multicultural teaching pedagogy and it offered implications for the preparation of preservice teachers in schools of education