Competency vs. good intentions: Diversity ideologies and teacher potential

Abstract

Since the 1970s, some form of diversity ideology has been used in teacher education programs. Since these efforts have yielded few or no results, this response points out how various diversity ideologies guide research agendas, influence future scholarship, and propagate assumptions on the schooling issues facing our children. It describes the evolvement of a body of scholarship that appears to emphasize hope and advocacy, and tolerates excuses of poverty and racism, rather than focus on the psychological stress and academic failure our children experience daily. While we may have the ability to inspire, we have not demonstrated capacity to educate a professorate who can prepare teachers to succeed in diverse settings, nor have we developed teacher preparation programs that understand how to select the programmatic content, experiences, and strategies needed to help teachers develop from novice to expert levels and to apply cultural and language dimensions to curriculum and practice.