Preservice Science Teachers and Cultural Diversity Awareness

Abstract

Preservice science teachers hold a number of existing beliefs and expectations for their students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) backgrounds. Many teacher education programs (TEPs) provide diversity coursework, multicultural education courses, and field experiences to better prepare preservice teachers for the CLD classroom. A questionnaire which included the Henry (1991) Cultural Awareness Diversity Inventory (CDAI) was used to examine the preservice science teacher’s cultural awareness and sensitivity based on TEP coursework and field experiences. Findings suggested that the majority of participants were from predominantly White, middle class backgrounds and did not perceive their culture as different from their CLD students. However, they did exhibit some awareness of culture, linguistic, and ethnic identification for their students. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to: Melody L. Russell, 5004