Culturally responsive teaching in teacher training
Schools in urban settings are increasingly more diverse, but teachers do not always feel prepared to teach superdiverse classes. Therefore it is important to make sure that teachers are prepared for teaching superdiverse classes during their teacher training by learning how to implement cultural responsive teaching.
Objective
The goal of the project is to enable teacher trainers to support preservice teachers in developing culturally responsive teaching practices during their internship. In cultural responsive teaching diversity forms a filter for teaching knowledge and skills, as well as strengthening personal, social and cultural development of students in secondary education. This way teachers can harness diversity and approach differences between students as enriching rather than seeing differences as a problem.
Cultural responsive teaching sees ethnic, cultural, social and linguistic diversity as essentially human and thus elementary in good teaching. For preservice teachers this has consequences for their pedagogy and didactics, but also for their professional identity and their beliefs about diversity.
Results
During the project we gain insights into how preservice teachers develop cultural responsive teaching, which opportunities and hindrances they experience in the process and how teacher trainers can support the development of preservice teachers.
Approach
In three secondary schools in the city of Utrecht we are going first to map how preservice teachers develop cultural responsive teaching practices during their internship. Then teacher trainers and researchers together are going to use lesson study to support preservice teachers in this process.
Education impact
When teacher trainers are better equipped to support preservice teachers in urban settings as they are developing cultural responsive teaching practices, the result is that future teachers are better prepared for teaching superdiverse classes. This way we contribute to more equitable education in the city of Utrecht.
Projectupdates
HU researchers involved in the research
Collaboration with knowledge partners
In this project, we collaborate with teacher trainers from the Archimedes Institute of HU University of Applied Sciences and three secondary schools in Utrecht.
The project is funded by the Dutch National Education Institute (formerly NRO) under the grant scheme Knowledge for Education of the Future - Small.
