Challenging Teacher Bias: Implementing a Community Learning Fair

Abstract

All teacher education programs require multicultural components, however these may treat existing prejudices superficially or even reinforce them. This article presents a culturally responsive approach to addressing teacher prejudice through activities founded on the Caring-Centered Multicultural Education framework. Based on input from the teachers and principal at a partner school, pre-service teachers prepare inquiry-based science lessons for a community event. As pre-service teachers interact with families, they recognize the children’s inquisitiveness and their parents’ value for education, dispelling negative stereotypes about culturally and linguistically diverse urban communities. A whole-class debriefing to promote reflection on personal and societal prejudice follows, offering an effective model of Caring-Centered Multicultural Education that bridges theory into practice.