Integrating multicultural and curriculum principles in teacher education

Questions about the place and nature of multiculturalism in teacher education continue to be contentious and problematic. Several recent developments make them at once more puzzling and imperative. One of these is the ethnic demographics of students in K-12 schools and enrollments in teacher education programs. While public school students are becoming more ethnically, racially, and linguistically diverse, prospective teachers continue to be predominately middle class, English speaking, European Americans. Another development that is bringing more attention to multicultural education is the fact that research and scholarship demonstrating the interactive relationship among ethnicity, culture, and school achievement is becoming more definitive. A third contributing factor is that teacher education accreditation agencies are increasing their stipulations that multiculturalism be a central part of professional preparation. Our intent is to contribute to answering these questions and reducing these contentions by proposing a strategy for multiculturalizing teacher education. We will examine three issues related to achieving this goal: (a) Why it is important for future teachers to develop multicultural perspectives and competencies; (b) how general principles of multicultural education and curriculum design can be integrated into teacher preparation programs; and (c) how this integration can be accomplished so that prospective teachers will be empowered, not unduly intimidated, to continue their profession growth in multiculturalism. Our discussions are