THE BIG PICTURE: Because prospective teachers tend to teach as they have been taught, their experiences as students often program their practices as teachers. They may be reluctant to try teaching strategies that they themselves have not experienced. Boyle-Baise and Sleeter (1996) note:

"Most preservice students are excited and yet overwhelmed by the thought of teaching differently than they have been taught. It is difficult for them to perceive alternatives, because this requires consideration of teaching approaches that are unfamiliar, and redefinition of the essence of teaching." (p. 385)

In some cases, the influence of experience with traditional methodologies may prove so strong as to cause the outright rejection of alternate pedagogies (Holt-Reynolds, 1992).

To break the cycle of factory-model instruction being passed from one generation to the next, intervention must take place. That intervention takes the form of the instruction experienced by preservice students in their teacher education coursework. Preservice students who are engaged in cooperative learning, peer tutoring, heterogeneous grouping, simulations, and other instructional strategies in their teacher education coursework are more likely to use those strategies in their future classrooms. In effect, teacher educators must model the effective teaching that they expect their students eventually to deliver.

GOALS:

• Teacher educators will provide preservice students with learning experiences in a variety of instructional strategies.

• Teacher educators will model instruction characterized by intellectual challenge, emotional engagement, and variability.

IMPLICATIONS FOR ACTION: In their coursework, preservice students should be engaged in instruction that is characterized by variability. That is, it should appeal to a wide variety of learning styles.

Teacher educators should practice what they preach. When teaching about cooperative learning, for example, they should engage preservice students in activities that make use of cooperative learning. When promoting instruction for critical thinking, they should ask questions involving high-level thinking. To encourage professional habits of mind that value variability and reflection, instructors should focus students' conscious attention on follow-up questions after each classroom activity. Questions such as the following would be appropriate:

• To which learning styles did this activity appeal?

• How might this activity be improved?

• Could the same objective be achieved using alternate activities?

The instruction experienced by preservice students should be intellectually challenging. Just as prospective teachers should possess high expectations for all students (e.g., Zeichner, 1993), so should teacher educators entertain high expectations for their students.. Further, teacher educators should not shy away from challenging preservice students' preconceptions related to equity and multicultural education.

Finally, teacher education coursework should include the affective domain as well as the cognitive, and it should take place within a socially supportive context. The affective dimensions of learning include feelings, emotions, and self-esteem. Caine and Caine (1991) note that students learn best in an emotional climate that is supportive and marked by mutual respect. Zeichner (1993) identifies the ability to form emotional bonds with students as a crucial trait of successful teachers of diverse groups of learners. Teacher educators, likewise, should seek to relate to their students not only intellectually but also affectively. When issues pertinent to multicultural education enter the teacher education curriculum, the affective domain naturally and necessarily becomes engaged.

That the expression of emotions should occur in a socially supportive environment--in which everyone has the opportunity to speak and diverse views are treated with respect--seems obvious. However, the social context of discourse related to multiculturalism has added significance. In class discussions, preservice students may experience disequilibrium, which is a catalyst for conceptual change. In responding to classmates' views, they may struggle to articulate their own views to others--and, more important, to themselves (Shaw, 1994).

OBSTACLES TO ACTION: Some teacher educators may not demonstrate innovative teaching strategies or be models for effective teaching. According to Katz and Raths (1982), teacher educators often are guilty of not practicing what they preach.

References

Additional Reading for Element 12