Preparing Urban Teachers For Schools and Communities: An Anti-Racist Perspe... - 1 views
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Jenny Davis on 22 Jul 12In the current climate of increasing nativism and intolerance as reflected in recent anti-affirmative action and English-only initiatives, and increasing acts of racist violence,(n1) we should anticipate that the racial divide will intensify in our schools as it has in the larger society. Yet teacher education, like higher education generally, often seems oblivious to the magnitude of this problem. By and large, teacher education does not require a serious study of race relations or critical multicultural education as preparation for teaching in our multiracial and racially divided society (Zeichner and Hoeft, 1996). Where multicultural education courses are offered, race is often marginalized under the multicultural umbrella (Kailin, 1996; McCarthy, 1995; Ng, et.al., 1995). In this article I will argue that to properly prepare teachers to teach in our schools and communities we need to incorporate an anti-racist perspective in teacher education.