Date of Award

4-2025

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Department

Education and Human Development

First Advisor

Jill Hermann-Wilmarth, Ph.D.

Second Advisor

Summer Davis, Ph.D.

Third Advisor

Selena Protacio, Ph.D.

Keywords

Critical self-reflection, cultural competence, phenomenology, preservice teacher education

Abstract

Preservice teacher programs have been charged with finding ways to make programming more multiculturally inclusive due to the student population in K-12 public schools across the United States becoming increasing racially, culturally, or ethnically more diverse each year. The majority of current educational research surrounding multicultural education, explores the limited diversity in teacher education programs, understanding the cultural competency of the current teachers, and investigating discrepancies within current classroom application. There is little research that considers how preservice teachers use critical self-reflection as a tool for working with diverse student populations during clinical work in their program. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological qualitative research study is to explore the essence of how preservice teachers experience critical self-reflection as a means for identifying resistances to becoming culturally competent when working with K-12 students during their teacher education program. Findings from this research indicated preservice teachers engage in critical self-reflection through the (1) maximization of discussion-based learning in college courses and (2) creating clear strategies that promote reflective processed; also, themes surrounding resistance indicated that (1) inaction is a form of resistance, and (2) combatting resistance means critically self-reflecting is essential. This research has implications for future practitioners and researchers looking to contribute to the work of building cultural competency within our preservice teacher population.

Access Setting

Dissertation-Open Access

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