Preparing to teach culturally diverse classrooms

Immersing preservice teachers in an unfamiliar culture helps prepare them to teach children from cultures different from their own.

Changing classroom demographics means teachers must be prepared to understand and work with children from cultures other than their own. With about 20% of school-age children speaking a language other than English at home, teachers must be ready to address the needs of a culturally diverse population. Most current teachers have little intercultural experience, which means that schools have a tremendous gap to fill (Cushner, McClelland, & Safford, 2000; Melnick & Zeichner, 1998).

Teacher preparation programs can help fill that gap by ensuring that students are exposed to more cultural opportunities before they leave campus. The School of Education at the University of North Carolina (UNC) has taken this challenge seriously and created a student-teaching abroad program designed to expand preservice teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge by exposing them to strategies used in China. After completing 10 weeks of full-time student teaching in the U.S., students travel to China for four more weeks of being immersed in another culture. So far, 23 UNC students have completed this program with more scheduled to travel in spring 2014.

“I had to embrace the fact that I felt constantly lost, confused, and out of place.”

The student teachers experience a new culture, including a foreign school setting, a variety of instructional strategies, and curriculum materials. While on location they observe classroom teaching, develop and teach units of study that fit within the schools’ curriculum, and enhance the content being taught by local teachers. They learn about life in China, experience its culture, and network with professional educators. Professors from the U.S. are on location to support student teachers, work with faculty at the host site, conduct classroom observations, provide feedback, and have informal seminars.

The exposure to different perspectives on learning expanded participants’ thinking about education and themselves as educators. One participant said, “This trip challenged me to recognize differences and similarities between two educational systems. I see the benefits of creating a community of students who work together and are comfortable with each other. The experience abroad has taught me not only about myself but has challenged me to think deeper about the purpose of education.” Another reported an increased ability to adapt rapidly, think on her feet, and gain an appreciation for individuals from a different culture. They described ways they would apply the expertise they developed in China during their own careers as teachers. “I plan to use strategies with my international students that my Chinese teacher utilized to help her students learn English . . . like translating biology terms in their first language.” Another student teacher described his plans to incorporate visual images and gestures to support language development for English language learners. “Visiting a culture that is vastly different from home has given me an appreciation for the struggles that immigrant students go through trying to learn a second language.”

Participants formed new relationships and gained self-assurance and a sense of accomplishment. “This has been one of the greatest and most rewarding experiences of my life. I had to embrace the fact that I felt constantly lost, confused, and out of place,” said one student. Another student teacher said, “I know what it feels like to be frustrated that I cannot communicate. I know what it feels like to be completely unable to read, to need help doing everything.”

The short-term global experience enhanced students’ international perspective. One teacher said, “I was able to learn about another culture and its teaching style. This was something that I had to witness and experience firsthand to really grasp.”

Doing their student teaching abroad was just a catalyst that started these teachers on a path of learning from others and expanded their cross-culture knowledge of schools and teaching.

References

Cushner, K., McClelland, A., & Safford, P. (2000). Human diversity in education: An integrative approach (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill.

Melnick, S.L. & Zeichner, K.M. (1998). Teacher education’s responsibility to address diversity issues: Enhancing institutional capacity. Theory into Practice, 37 (2), 62-69.

CITATION: Scott, C.E. (2014). BACKTALK: Preparing to teach culturally diverse classrooms. Phi Delta Kappan, 95 (5), 80.