An Ethnographic Study of Preservice Teacher Resistance to Multiculturalism: Implications for Teaching.

This paper examines student teachers’ resistance to multicultural education, contrasting the expectations of teacher educators, as expressed in the literature, with the perspectives of preservice teachers from a required multiculturalism course. The study involved participant observation, with the researcher participating in the course as a student, completing all assignments and readings, and participating in class discussions and group projects. Students’ written cultural autobiographies were collected, and stimulated recall interviews were conducted with students. One class meeting was videotaped to examine students’ interactions that displayed acceptance to resistance. Small focus group interviews examined the level of agreement among students. Student essays were analyzed regarding cultural diversity. Students varied in why they believed they were required to take the course. Teacher educators and student teachers were at cross-purposes regarding the goals and anticipated outcomes of multicultural courses. Topics that met the most student resistance were those that challenged their unexamined beliefs in individualism over group membership as the most salient features of teaching. Seven suggestions for overcoming resistance within the context of a required multicultural teacher education course are presented (e.g., clarify and justify purposes; give examples; and maximize placements in local urban schools). (Contains 31 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. An Ethnographic Study of Preservice Teacher Resistance to Multiculturalism: Implications for Teaching Amber Carpenter Rutgers University Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association, New Orleans, LA, Thursday, April 27, 2000.