Diversity Awareness: How Pre-service Teachers Notions of Diversity Were Effected After Attending a Multi-cultural Conference

Abstract

Pre-service educators need to become aware of how to interact with diverse students and school settings before they enter the classroom. Trainings and multi-cultural awareness opportunities need to be provided to pre-service educators and they need to be researched in order to evaluate relevant impact.  This article describes a multi-cultural conference that provided several workshops and discussions to pre-service teachers about a variety of topics related to diversity. Pre-service teachers who attended the conference provided reflections about their experiences that were analyzed which gave insights into how pre-service teachers notions of diversity were impacted or challenged.  Findings were that attending a one day conference on diversity issues made an impact on pre-service teacher’s notions of diversity and provided the pre-service teachers with specific strategies for future classroom instruction.  The findings are useful to academicians and educational professionals who are interested in better preparing teacher candidates for the inclusive environment they will face upon graduation.

Keywords: pre-service teachers, diversity, multi-cultural, conference