Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of Preparedness and Self-efficacy in Instructing Students From Diverse Cultural and Linguistic Backgrounds

Abstract

The goal of this study to determine if there is a connection between the pre-service teachers ’perception of preparedness and their self-efficacy in instructing students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. The researcher was guided by three research questions: 1) What are pre-service teachers ’perceptions of their abilities to teach culturally and linguistically diverse students? 2) To what degree do pre-service teachers believe their teacher education program prepared them to teach culturally and linguistically diverse students? 3) To what extent do pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy influence culturally and linguistically diverse students? Participants were pre-service teachers (education undergraduates in their last year or last semester of graduation), community colleges and university faculty in the North Texas area. A total of 63 participants participated in the study by completing a Teacher Demographic Questionnaire (TDQ) and the Culturally Responsive Teacher Self-Efficacy scale (CRTSES) (Siwatu, 2006). Also, a total of 10 faculty participants participated in the study by completing a Faculty Member Questionnaire (FMQ). From the faculty member participants, none expressed an interest in participating in the follow-up interviews. Demographic and preparedness questions from the TDQ were selected to identify similarities and differences. CRTSES data were totaled by question, ranked based on mean score, and then grouped by means.