Understanding the Nature of Texas A&M University Teacher Preparation for Diverse Classrooms
Abstract
As students who felt impacted by multicultural education teacher education courses, we wanted to better understand contributions to teacher quality at Texas A&M University in relation to diverse pK-12 students. Nationally, it is estimated that by 2026, students of color will account for 55% of U.S. learners (McFarland et al., 2017), however, our program’s pre-service teachers are 70% White and 90% female (Texas A&M University, 2018). To examine this gap, we are looking at the intersections of policies and practices at TAMU in teacher education recruitment, program acceptance, curriculum, and support systems, that can contribute to both diversifying the teacher workforce and preparing all teachers we send into the field to enact culturally responsive and equitable practices in the workplace. This critical qualitative study is guided by the framework of critical race theory. This is the first cycle of our research after which we will focus on the strengths and issues we’ve identified, present initial recommendations, and make a plan for future research cycles involving participatory research.
Subject
retentionrecruitment
CRT
diversity
critical race theory
culturally responsive pedagogy
equity
syllabi
diverse populations
underserved community
marginalized students
pre-service teachers
higher education
Citation
Couri, Delaney C; Betancourt, Kelsey A; Hollums, Landry; Huynh, Thien Kim; Yosko, Logan Brandyll (2020). Understanding the Nature of Texas A&M University Teacher Preparation for Diverse Classrooms. Undergraduate Research Scholars Program. Available electronically from https : / /hdl .handle .net /1969 .1 /196689.