| Summary: | Previously, multicultural education literature has highlighted the increase of ethnically diverse students' growth in American public K-12 schools (Articles & McClafferty, 1998; Ladson-Billings, 1994). On the other hand, the literature reveals that many teachers are failing to appropriately exhibit culturally relevant pedagogical competence to accommodate the growth of students of color in American schools (NCDTF, 2004). Oftentimes, this contributes to the development of pre-service teachers that lack culturally relevant pedagogical preparation to teach students of color in American K-12 schools (Burden, Hodge, O'Bryant & Harrison, 2004; Ambrosio, Seguin, & Hogan, 2001). Thus, this study sought out to better understand how PETE teacher educators and pre-service students describe their methods of inclusion, teaching, and learning, as it relates to culturally relevant pedagogical preparedness.
The study involved a phenomenological investigation of (8) teacher educators across (5) NCATE Accredited PETE programs about their pedagogical experiences with the phenomena of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) inclusion in curricula practices. In addition, (N=239) pre-service students across the (5) PETE Programs were assessed on their color-blind racial attitudes (racial awareness) and its relationship to their culturally relevant pedagogical skills and knowledge competence. Also, pre-service students' written descriptions were assessed via qualitative content analysis.
Findings from this study revealed that PETE teacher educators experienced a) ethnocentric beliefs regarding students of color learning styles, behaviors, and preferences in K-12 physical education settings, b) that their White American pre-service students 'feared' teaching in schools with a high composition of ethnically/racially diverse students, c) that their programs lacked students and faculty of color, which the faculty indicated to add to the multicultural intelligence within the PETE program, and d) that more direct exposure in diverse settings would add to the multicultural teaching competence.
Furthermore, findings indicate that pre-service students' awareness of racial and social inequalities is slightly associated with their reported levels of multicultural pedagogical skill competence. In addition, the pre-services students 'written descriptions' of their CRP preparedness indicated that their PETE methods courses and social interactions contributed the most to how they describe their learning of CRP practices and strategies.
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