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Developing cultural critical consciousness and self-reflection in preservice teacher education
Theory Into Practice, Summer, 2003 by Geneva Gay, Kipchoge Kirkland
Our students also practice multicultural self-reflection and critical consciousness by deconstructing and then reconstructing major U.S. icons, symbols, and celebrations, such as national holidays, the national anthem and other patriotic songs, and e pluribus unum. These are re-visioned to make them more inclusive of ethnic and cultural diversity.
Conclusion
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Our experiences in teaching multicultural education to predominately European American female preservice teachers have taught us that it is not enough to have courageous conversations about racism and social injustices, to appreciate cultural differences, and accept the need to be reflective in their personal beliefs and professional practices. They need to practice actually engaging in cultural critical consciousness and personal reflection. This practice should involve concrete situations, guided assistance, and specific contexts and catalysts. Real-life experiences make the learning activities more genuine and authentic, and lessen the likelihood that students will escape the intellectual, emotional, psychological, moral, and pedagogical challenges inherent in reflection and critical consciousness.
Teaching for cultural critical consciousness and self-reflection should also provide opportunities for preservice teachers to construct tangible results of the ideological reconfigurations that are part of reflection so that they can assess the quality of their efforts and continue to improve them. Turning critical thoughts into transformative instructional actions helps to internalize the process so that it can be replicated in future endeavors. Our "learning by doing within the context of authentically lived experiences" approach to teaching models techniques that they, in turn, can use with their own students to teach similar skills. It also is one of the anchors of effective teaching for social justice in multicultural contexts.
1. Shade, B.J., Kelly, C., & Oberg, M. (1997). Creating culturally responsive classrooms. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
The authors suggest some practical strategies for how teachers can incorporate more cultural diversity into their classroom instruction. They are offered as guides, not mandates, and the readers are invited to add their own creative contributions to the compendium. The strategies and activities are organized according to different goals, such as understanding cultural backgrounds, discovering how culture influences motivation and learning, and making classrooms culturally compatible for students from diverse ethnic groups.
2. Southern Poverty Law Center web site www.splcenter.org/teachingtolerance/ttindex.html
This web site provides information about Teaching Tolerance, the Southern Poverty Law Center's national education project dedicated to helping teachers foster equity, respect, and understanding in and outside of the classroom. Links include: Teaching Tolerance magazine, Grants for Educators, Ten Ways to Fight Hate, Responding to Hate in Schools, and 101 Tools for Tolerance. Materialsare designed to be used by K-8 students and teachers, as well as adults outside of schools.
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