Higher education in the United States is becoming more racially, ethnically, and culturally diverse. Given this increasing diversity, developing multicultural competence for current and preparing student affairs professionals (PSAPs) must become more intentional and clearly articulated within graduate preparation programs and further supported by…

Changing demographics in the U.S. require a focus on educating future teachers on how to engage children and families with diverse backgrounds. Teacher educators have been charged to address teachers' cultural competence and provide pedagogical instruction for working with diverse populations. We bolster this line of inquiry by sharing activities…

Students undertaking field-based learning, in which they work with Indigenous people in Northern Australia, describe a profound learning experience redolent with emotion. Inspired, challenged and transformed, the students are compelled in ways that require them to interrogate their own selves and taken-for-granted beliefs. In this paper, we draw…

Over the past several decades, the changing face of America and the diversification of its schools have been catalysts for a strong movement among music educators to promote the adoption of a more global perspective in the music classroom. Educators are encouraged to integrate into their curricula a varied repertoire representing musical cultures…

Whitworth College, Washington, has a commitment to multicultural education for all students. Its course, "Field Experience in Mutlicultural Education," which sends students to one of several field sites, is described. This experience is designed to assist preservice teachers in the development of a global orientation and informed world…

One goal educators have is to empower students at all levels in this diverse and changing society whether they work with teacher candidates or with P-12 students. Teachers are seeing increased differences in race, ethnicity, culture, and special needs in children in their classrooms. The changing composition of early childhood classrooms…

In order to educate preservice teachers about the experiences of poor children, a course on critical issues in education incorporated work in social service agencies. The course was based in theories of critical pedagogy as proposed by Paulo Freire, multicultural education, and the ideas of Benjamin R. Barber. The field experience aimed to allow…

A major component of the Illinois State University (ISU) teacher education program is early field experience in a multicultural setting. The aim of this component is to enable prospective teachers to be aware of the needs of the changing school population and its cultural diversity. The ISU community-based field experience program is coordinated…

The program to Prepare Teachers for Multi-Cultured Secondary Schools (MULTI-CUL) at Ball State University provides an alternative, elective program open to all enrollees in secondary education who wish to prepare for teaching their subject matter specialities in schools serving adolescents from a variety of cultural, religious, social, and ethnic…

Offers a model of social-work education that infuses multicultural content into the field curriculum and enhances faculty diversity. One school's field-practice seminars integrate diversity training by pairing community facilitators with faculty facilitators to increase instructors' awareness of diversity; offering ongoing workshops to train…

The Mercer University field-based program in elementary education provides practical experience beginning in the junior year. The prospective teacher starts with observations in public school classrooms while enrolled in a foundations of education course. Opportunities to work directly with children commence in the second quarter of the junior…

This document is a collection of case studies based on data gathered from site visits to thirteen institutions that varied in size, geographic region, and ethnic and racial composition. The collection presents alternative strategies for implementing multicultural teacher education programs. Information regarding the application of multicultural…

The teacher education program at the College of Education of Wichita State University (Kansas) connects the theoretical framework for multicultural education to participatory experience in which the teacher candidates consider the interaction of a child's home culture and school culture. (SLD)

This paper addresses the need for multicultural perspectives in teacher preparation programs and ways in which teacher education institutions can enhance multicultural education. Standards and criteria of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) with regard to multicultural education and the response of Northern…

Discusses the Reality Based Multicultural Model (RBMM) created for Minnesota's teacher education programs to ensure that the preservice teacher interacts with diverse student populations and demonstrates competence in each of six program components. The RBMM requires that preservice teachers complete a field experience in a culture other than…