Teaching for Diversity.

Overview & Synopsis

The summer 1993 Southwest Educational Development Laboratory (SEDL) "Networkshop" focused on the need for teacher education programs to prepare future teachers to work with and teach effectively increasingly diverse student populations, and the need to increase the number of minority teachers. A major focus was on how policy and decisionmakers can recruit, prepare, and retain students from different ethnic or language groups in teacher education programs and then as teachers. Keynote speaker Ana Maria Villegas outlined four key areas: demographic trends, preparing teachers for diversity, increasing the pool of minority teachers, and policy considerations. She then explored "Models and Strategies for Improving Recruitment Preparation and Credentialing." As part of a panel of teacher education students, teachers, and education decisionmakers on "Restructuring Teacher Education to Prepare Teachers for Diversity," Jacqueline Jordan Irvine outlined 10 essential components for restructuring teacher education for diversity. Another panel presented government and university perspectives in restructuring teacher education, with participants from Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. Finally, a number of strategies in the area of recruitment, preparation, and credentialing to strengthen and enrich opportunities for teaching for diversity are outlined for state policy arenas, colleges of education, and local school districts. A list of Networkshop participants is included. (ND)