Historical foundation of diversity courses in teacher education programs and challenges of pedagogic application

Abstract

This article examines the historical underpinnings of multicultural education with respect to its origin, goals, and struggles for implementation in public schools prior to the 1970s. It also discusses the impeding factors that have up to now hampered an effective multicultural education preparation for preservice teachers, who are expected to acquire instructional strategies grounded in the core values of multicultural education in order to be effective teachers of diverse student populations. The setbacks, otherwise known as areas of concerns in multicultural teacher education courses, are explored in this article and classified as unpreparedness of middle‐class white preservice teachers, scope of the curriculum andpedagogy, preservice teachers’ deficit beliefs, preservice teachers’ resistance to diversity and equity courses, racial identities of the instructors of diversity courses, and direct experiences. The examination of the setbacks are meant to raise awareness of the intricacies of teaching diversity and equity courses for teacher educators, and not to discount the contribution of such courses in inculcating cross‐cultural awareness and praxis in prospective teachers.