Inclusive and Supportive Education Congress International Special Education Conference Inclusion: Celebrating Diversity? 1st - 4th August 2005. Glasgow, Scotland

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Preparing Early Childhood Special Educators to Work with
Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

Vivian I. Correa
Joyce Tardaguila-Harth
University of Florida

Correspondence should be addressed to:
Vivian I. Correa
Department of Special Education
G 315 Norman Hall
University of Florida
Gainesville
FL 32611

Teachers should be prepared to meet the needs of a diverse community of students…who are at different developmental stages, have different learning styles, and come from diverse backgrounds (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education [NCATE], 2002, p. 4).

Teacher educators are expected to address issues of multicultural education (MCE) in preservice preparation programs. It is particularly important for early childhood special educators because of the changing demographics of the student population. Several scholars support including multicultural content in teacher education comes (e.g., Artiles, Trent, Hoffman-Kip, & Lopez-Torres, 2000;Banks & Banks, 2001).

The issue of cultural clash between educators and diverse students is at the center of why multicultural education should be included in teacher education programs. Currently, 86% of special educators in the United States are Caucasian while 32% of students in special education are culturally and linguistically diverse (Rosenberg & Sindelar, 2003). Courses focusing on cultural diversity should help reduce the clash teachers, students, and families may experience (Harry, Kalyanpur, & Day, 1999).

Unfortunately, many preservice teachers have beliefs that perpetuate the disconnect between culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students and their families.   Preservice teachers often show resistance toward learning the necessary skills and knowledge to work effectively with CLD students (Gay & Howard, 2000; Gay & Kirkland, 2003).

Multicultural education (MCE) is currently being incorporated into a majority of teacher education programs (Cochran-Smith, 2003; Gollnick, 1995). Yet, in a study by Utley, Delquadri, Obiakor, and Mims (2000) 40 percent of the teachers reported that they did not have coursework on teaching CLD students. Of the programs that do address MCE in the curriculum, little is known about the effect the coursework has on preparing teachers to meet the needs of the diverse students and families in schools (Artiles, Barreto, McClafferty, & Peña, 1998; Hoffman, 1996; Trent & Artiles, 1998). Webb-Johnson et al.(1998) argue that quantitative and qualitative measures are needed to measure preservice teachers’ conceptual changes over the course of the program.

The purpose of our study was to use quantitative and qualitative methods of analysis to examine the change in preservice early childhood special educators’ understandings of MCE. Specifically, we used concept mapping for tracing conceptual changes in preservice teachers before and after a course on MCE .

Through the process of concept mapping, preservice students were able to draw graphic organizers that visually presented ideas about a central topic (MCE) so that the relationships between concepts and important details could be seen.

We focused our study on measuring students’ conceptualizations of MCE, which we   define as an integration of understandings, attitudes, and beliefs.   The concept maps measured more than knowledge on an exam, but rather tapped the various graphic representations that students have about the subject as well as their attitudes and beliefs.   Given that early childhood special educators must work effectively in a culturally responsive manner with diverse children and their families, this is an important question for teacher educators to ask. We also wanted to add to the knowledge base about the preparation of early childhood and special educators while addressing limitations in methodology that have been identified in the literature.

Method

Participants

The participants of this study were 35 preservice early-childhood education students in their second semester of a five year unified early-childhood teacher preparation program.   They were enrolled in the multicultural education course that was taught in two sections in one semester. Like in most early childhood teacher preparation programs, 100% of the students were females. Eighty-seven percent (31) were Caucasian, 5% (2) were African-American, and 8% (3) were Hispanic.

The course instructors were both Hispanic and female.  One of them was a tenured professor of early childhood special education while the other was a doctoral candidate in special education . The instructors met weekly and co-planned the content to be taught, activities, and examinations but did not co-teach the course. The instructors covered the identical material each week using identical PowerPoint lectures, activities, and videos.

Course Description

            The 17-week (3-credit) course was taught within the Unified Early Childhood Education Program at the University of Florida. The focus of the course was on providing early childhood service-related professional information related to cultural competence including (a) population demographics, (b) self-awareness and self-reflection on culture and beliefs about diversity, (c) learning styles of young children with disabilities who come from diverse backgrounds, (d) strategies for developing multicultural and anti-biased curriculum, (e) strategies for developing a social justice perspective, and (f) understanding and working with families from diverse linguistic or cultural backgrounds. See Table 1 for a description of course objectives. The instructors used traditional lecture, small-group discussion, self-analysis activities, case-study analysis, videos, and reflection to teach the course content.

[Table unavailable]

Data Collection

As a course assignment, students were asked to develop individual concept maps with “multicultural education” as the central concept on the first and last days of the course. They were instructed in how to develop concept maps and a model of a complex, well-structured concept map of transportation was provided (Lane, Repetto, & Griffin, 1999). The students were instructed to think about their definition or understanding of multicultural education, write down all of the ideas they had, and use those ideas to develop the concept map. Additionally, the participants were asked to write one to two paragraphs to further explain their conception of multicultural education. The intent of the paragraphs was to explain the concept map, but this was not required. See Table 2 for the concept map assignment. During the post-course maps, students were also asked to write if their views had changed or stayed the same.

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Concept Map Analysis

Following the procedures described by Johnson & LaMontagne (1993), the researchers conducted a content analysis to identify common categories within the maps.    An example of a student’s map, pre-and post-course, shown in Figures 1 and 2 illustrates the forms most concept maps took and a representative level of change between the two maps.

[Insert Figures 1 and 2 about here]

One of the instructors examined the pre-concept maps and began identifying tentative categories based on the first level (main) entries of the maps.   The coding and grouping was based on similarities of language, concepts, and the spatial array of the maps. The second instructor followed a similar process to examine the concept maps, but used the initial categories developed by the first as guides. As other concepts emerged from the data, the categories were changed and finalized through discussion by both instructors. The categories derived from the concept maps in this way were (a) recognition of the deep and surface aspects of culture (b) acknowledgement of the role that the teachers’ culture plays in the learning environment, (c) focus on how students’ and teachers’ culture influence classroom practices, (d) awareness of similarities and differences between cultures, (e) multicultural education includes practicing and teaching about social justice,   (f) multicultural education includes the implementation of anti-biased approaches (g) awareness that diversity also means students with disabilities, gender differences, age and sexual orientation, and (h) recognition that the family is an important component of multicultural education.

Recognition of the deep and surface aspects of culture. This category addressed the students’ evolving view of culture from a superficial concept to a more profound notion that included beliefs, values and lifestyles.   The category made references to race, ethnicity, religion, socio-economic status, sexual orientation, family structure, beliefs, values, food, holidays, disabilities, and geographical location.

Acknowledgement of the role that the teachers’ culture plays in the learning environment. This category addressed the importance of the teachers’ culture and how that culture influenced the educational practices implemented in the classroom.   References to reflection, self- awareness, teacher’s roles, uniqueness, individuality, and biases were put into this category.

            Focus on how students’ and teachers’ culture influence classroom practices.   It is important to remember that the students’ cultural background will also play an important role in the learning environment.   This category focused on how the interaction between the culture of the students and the culture of the teachers influenced classroom practices.   Entries such as specific classroom methods and learning styles were placed in this category.

Awareness of the similarities and differences between cultures.  Entries that    addressed the understanding that all cultures have similarities and differences were included in this category.   Examples include acceptance, respect, understanding, increasing cross-cultural awareness, and cross-cultural friendships.

            Multicultural education includes practicing and teaching about social justice. This category made reference to what a teacher might do in order to teach and promote social justice.   Examples such as fairness, responsibility, community building; activism, cultural reciprocity, non-tourist approaches and equity were placed in this category.

             Multicultural education includes the implementation of anti-biased approaches. Entries that emphasized the importance of promoting a classroom environment free of biases were included in this category.   Examples include using materials that reflect the cultural diversity of the students, helping students increase their self-esteem, resistance to stereotypes, decreasing sexism and racism, and becoming aware of prejudices.

            Awareness that diversity also means students with disabilities, gender differences, age and sexual orientation.   This category addressed how the students’ view of diversity changed from one that included only race, language, and religion to a view that included sexual orientation, differing abilities, gender, and age.  

Recognition that the family is an important component of multicultural education.

Entries that focused on the important role that families play in the education of their children.   Examples include family structure, family life, and families working with teachers.     

The researchers then went through each concept map, pre- and post-course, and assigned each entry on the map to a category while disregarding the spatial arrangement and hierarchical relationships.   After the individual analysis of each map, the instructors compared their findings. Discussions of any discrepancies in coding led to agreement on each entry on the maps.

            In order to determine the quantitative changes between the students’ pre- and post-course concept maps, the researchers counted the number of entries, levels, examples (specific events or objects that are judged as valid instances of a concept), hierarchies (connections among concepts that included at least three levels), and crosslinks (connections between a segment of one hierarchy and a segment of another). Paired-sample t-tests were utilized to examine changes over time using Bonferroni correction for type 1 errors and two-tailed tests.

Results

            The mean frequency of responses per student pre- and post-course was calculated and is reported in Table 3.   On average, students had a total of 15.22 entries on the first day of the course and 17.98 at the end. Similarly, the number of examples, hierarchies, and crosslinks had increased by the end of the course.   The pre- and post-concepts showed a slight decrease in the number of number of levels utilized by the students. Going from 2.65 at the before the course to 2.51 by the end of it..   Although the pre- and post-course maps showed changes in the students’ mean frequency of responses, the results of the paired-sample t-tests suggest that none of these changes were statistically significant (see Table 4).

[Table unavailable]

            Qualitative analysis of the concept maps showed important differences between the students’ understanding of multicultural education before and after the course.  

Recognition of the deep and surface aspects of culture.   The pre-course concept of the students reflected the belief that multicultural education focused on ethnicity, race, religion, food and other surface aspects of culture.   The post-course maps suggested a deeper understanding of culture and how multicultural education encompassed the study of all aspects of culture including beliefs, values, and lifestyles.

Acknowledgement of the role that the teachers’ culture plays in the learning environment.   One of the most important changes in the students’ beliefs about multicultural education focused on the role that the teacher’s culture would play in the learning environment.   Before the course, most students indicated that multicultural education entailed learning about the students’ culture.   After the course, the culture of the teacher was included as part of the maps.   The students seemed to recognize that their cultures and their biases would play an important role in the way they approached instructional tasks and managed their classrooms.   Reflection and self-awareness were included as vital components of multicultural education.

Focus on how students’ and teachers’ culture influence classroom practices.   Post-course concept maps suggested an increased understanding of the role of culture in the daily interactions between teachers and students and how those interactions would influence the practices implemented in the classroom. Many students indicated that multicultural education included reflecting about those interactions and what classroom practices they could implement to assure the success of all students.

Awareness of the similarities and differences between cultures.   Another important change between the preservice educators’ pre- and post-course maps focused on the awareness of similarities and differences among cultures.   Before the course, students indicated that multicultural education taught students about differences among cultures.   Most of the participants emphasized the importance of teaching students about ethnicity, race, language and religious differences in order to promote understanding.   After the course, the students indicated that teaching about similarities was just as important as teaching about differences in order to increase cross-cultural understanding and friendships in the classroom.

Multicultural education includes practicing and teaching about social justice.  Most of the students entered the course with an understanding about the importance of multicultural education.   However, fewer of them began the course with an understanding of their roles as future educators and change agents in teaching children about diversity.   The post-course map entries reflected a better understanding of multicultural education as   a means of actively fighting societal problems reflected in schools and early childhood classrooms.

Multicultural education includes the implementation of anti-biased approaches. The Anti-Bias curriculum (Derman-Sparks, 1989) was an important part of the section of the course devoted to classroom-based methods of working with young children.   The importance of this curriculum and other instructional approaches that promote self-esteem while aiming to decrease prejudice was illustrated in the post-course concept maps.   Most of the participants included the implementation of the Anti-bias curriculum and its role in creating better outcomes for children and their families as an important part of multicultural education.

Awareness that diversity also means students with disabilities, gender differences, age and sexual orientation.   A critical change in the participants’ pre- and post-concept maps involved a new understanding of diversity.   Most of the pre-concept maps focused on ethnicity, race, and language as sources of diversity.   After the course, the students indicated that they had a more expansive view of diversity that went beyond race, ethnicity, and language to include age, gender, sexual preference and disability.

Recognition that the family is an important component of multicultural education.   The important role that families play in the education of their children was evidenced in the post-course entries.   The pre-service educators indicated that helping families feel included in the educational process was vital to the success of young children.   

Discussion

Several limitations of the study are important to note. First, we used pre-selected students enrolled in a course at a state university in Florida, limiting the ability to generalize findings to a larger population as does the fact that this is a single study in a single course with particular instructors. None of the students were international students. Replication of this study would be necessary with more students and diverse university settings, especially at international universities grappling with similar issues of diversity Second, we did not collect a point-by–point reliability estimate on our coding of concept map entries. Because of our use of actual concept map language on our coding form, frequent conversations, and subsequent agreement on the discrepant codings, we trust the authenticity of our data. Third, the categories were developed by the second author and then given to the first to use as a template to examine the concept maps. We believe that the scrupulous nature of our use of the themes from the concept maps, and multiple readings of the maps to check the authenticity provides sufficient evidence that the categories that were developed were as free from bias as possible. Fourth, we relied solely on student self-report for data collection without observing their actual practice with young children and families. Therefore, we cannot assume that their concept maps of multicultural education would transfer to the actual classroom setting and classroom practices. Finally, to truly understand changes in preservice educators’ understandings of working with CLD children and families, a longitudinal study would be necessary. Grant and Secada (1990) argued that preservice teachers need substantial exposure to multicultural content to effect a transition to classroom practice. Although it was not within the scope of this study to observe preservice teachers’ classroom practices, it would be an important next step in the research.

Even with these limitations, we saw many changes in the preservice students’ pre- and post-course concept maps. The results of this study increases our confidence that the format and rigorous content of one course on multicultural issues can indeed make a difference in how preservice early childhood educators think about diversity in their classrooms. They entered the course with positive values about understanding differences among people. After the class, the students’ beliefs and concepts of multicultural education transformed into understanding their responsibilities as teachers to make a difference in the attitude and behaviors of the children they will teach. These changes are similar to those found by Correa, Hudson, & Hayes (2004) and Trent et al (1998) in their examination of the conceptual change in preservice elementary and secondary preservice teachers: a broader definition of diversity after the course, a shift from general to the specific, and new concepts in the post-course maps related to curriculum that were not present in the pre-course maps. We find that our results point to at least two implications for research and practice in multicultural teacher education.

Concept Maps as a System of Self-Reflection-For many teacher educators, important concerns at the end of each course are what effect the course had on (a) the amount of knowledge gained, (b) the integration of information across topics and courses, and (c) the beliefs, attitudes, and understanding of the preservice teachers. These questions become more critical when we think of multicultural education. Gay and Kirkland (2003) remark that self-reflection among educators is critical for improving the educational outcomes of their ELL and CLD students and go on to state that many teacher education programs provide few high-quality opportunities for guided practice in self-reflection.

A promising extension of the current study’s methodology is the use of concept maps for not only assessing conceptual understanding of preservice teachers, but also in promoting self-reflection and self-assessment of their learning. Self-reflection is not new to preservice students; however, after using this method to promote course-level self-analysis, the authors have noted its particular power. While evidence of the usefulness of concept maps for teaching (e.g., Chen et al., 2003; Correa, et. al., 2004, Daley et al., 1999) is available, an examination of the promise concept mapping holds for promoting self-reflection in preservice multicultural education courses seems warranted. This is especially true in the areas of early childhood and special education where the research base is so limited.

Need for Additional Research on Conceptual Change

            An area that continues to be ripe for additional investigation is understanding how preservice teachers develop through teacher preparation programs. Use of multiple sources of information has been recommended by Webb-Johnson et al. (1998), and more information is needed about them. In addition to interviews and surveys, methods such as concept maps, video-taped discussions among students as they engage in projects, observations of preservice and novice teachers working with children and families, and analysis of student-produced multimedia projects need investigation (Correa, Hudson, & Hayes, 2004). While concept maps have been shown to provide insights to thinking (Artiles et al., 1994; Artiles et al., 1998; Morine-Dershimer, 1993; Morine-Dershimer et al., 1992), psychometric data about them are not known. For example, their test-retest reliability and validity have not been established. More research is needed in this area.

The need to understand changes in thinking is not only in the area of multicultural teacher education, but also in the context of special education coursework in teacher education programs in the U.S. as well as internationally. In order to meet the needs of all students at all levels of schooling, much more work needs to be done.

References

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