부산대학교 도서관

The demographics of school-aged students in the U.S continue to shift, with increasing numbers of students coming from historically underrepresented minority populations. Yet the percentage of white, female teachers remains disproportionately high. Using a framework revised from Garmon's (2004) study in which he found experiential factors; intercultural experiences, support group experiences, and educational experience, as well as dispositional factors; openness, self-awareness/self-reflectiveness, and a commitment to social justice, as a basis for the beliefs of teachers, I conducted semi-structured interviews in a cross-sectional research design, to examine the beliefs of 5 preservice teachers entering a graduate teacher preparation elementary program as well as those of 4 interns who have just graduated from the same program. It seeks to qualitatively explore the personal experiences of the participants entering the program and delve into the choices made to enter the program. In addition, the interns were asked to reflect upon their program in terms of coursework, assignments, and relationships to explore programmatic experiences and how they have influenced the interns. The findings of this study suggest that when combined, personal factors including previous experiences and personal dispositions, as well as program factors such as diverse field experiences, critical reflection, and support group experiences can lead to a positive change in beliefs about teaching intersectional students. Findings also suggest that entering a teacher preparation program at an older age can influence one's beliefs about teaching students. Implications for research suggest a deeper exploration into providing students in a teacher education program with experiences that prepare them to teach intersectional factors that go beyond race, gender, and socioeconomic class. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]