Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Identifier

901

Date

2013

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education

Major

Instr and Curr Leadership

Concentration

Instruction and Curriculum

Committee Chair

Shirley A. Key

Committee Member

Allen H. Seed

Committee Member

Denise L. Winsor

Committee Member

Celia K. Anderson

Abstract

The purpose of this qualitative study was to address how white preservice teachers understand themselves in relation to other cultures and their perceptions of preparedness to teach Latino students. In this study, the researcher used collective case study methodology to attempt to address whether there is a hidden curriculum of the dominant discourse in society being brought into the classroom by future teachers, either consciously or unconsciously, that is perpetuating a cycle of marginalization of the current Latino student population. Across the cases several similar themes became clear upon further analysis of the presented themes from the individual case analysis. The first theme of Heritage/Culture showed that the participants in this study had not consciously considered themselves in relation to the Latino culture and had generally benefitted from their place in the dominant discourse of society. The second theme, Becoming Aware, indicated that the participants knew little of the Latino culture. What they did know had been influenced by their own experiences. Participants seemed to believe all Latino students have different learning needs because of language barriers. Even though not all Latino students are truly English Language Learners, participants felt that Latino students would want their white teachers to acknowledge and respect the presence of their culture in the classroom. The third theme presented in the data, Being Unprepared, showed that the participants had not been adequately prepared to teach students of different backgrounds, especially Latino students. Finally, a fourth theme that seemed to appear in the data, The Goal of Education, indicated that participants held similar views of education as that of Latino families, but were unsure as how to effectively implement those values.

Comments

Data is provided by the student.

Library Comment

Dissertation or thesis originally submitted to the local University of Memphis Electronic Theses & dissertation (ETD) Repository.

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