Crafting a multicultural science teacher education: A case study

Current reforms in science education call for science for all. In the most progressive sense, this means teachers finding ways to help all children feel comfortable with and connected to science. It also means helping all children develop strong, intellectual, conceptual understandings of the major concepts and theories in science. Despite general consensus about ideal science for all, science educators have been largely unsuccessful in transforming the curricular and pedagogical strategies from traditional practices to practices inclusive of all students (Atwater, 1996). Teacher education programs have had little or no impact on preservice teachers' philosophy of teaching and learning, especially as it relates to underserved populations in science (Rodriguez, 1998). Teacher education programs are populated with many students resistant to deep exploration of racist and other socially oppressive classroom practices (Rodriguez, 1998). In this article, I explore the role of a community-based service learning project in enhancing the multicultural dimension of preservice education and on the development of preservice teachers crafting a multicultural science teaching practice.