Multiculturalism and FYC teacher training: An examination of GTA perspectives on being trained to teach in a multicultural, college classroom .

摘要

This research study was designed to determine graduate teaching assistants' (GTAs) perspective on their preparation to teach First Year Composition (FYC) in a multicultural teaching context and to determine the relevance of culturally responsive teaching to this experience. The study utilized the qualitative research methodology Portraiture and examined the experiences of three white, female English GTAs at a major urban university in the Midwest. The researcher found that each of the participants felt instruction about culturally responsive teaching would enhance their training, although it is not a concept that is a part of composition discourse. Moreover, they believed their training adequately prepared them to teach in a multicultural classroom context despite often feeling like they did not "know what to do" in their classrooms when issues related to cultural diversity arose. This seeming contradiction is discussed as the possible outcome of Shulman's (1994) notion of the "plague of nostalgia"---which suggests that novice teachers are most comfortable repeating the behavior(s) of those who taught them the respective subject matter irrespective of the potential problems that may cause---and only a partial commitment to culturally responsive teaching. The study thus concludes with the claim that GTA training as well as FYC instruction must commit to multicultural education and, thus, culturally responsive teaching in order to ensure that no student is denied full access to higher education.