Reconceptualizing Equity Pedagogy in Technology Teacher Education: A Double Infusion Model

Abstract

In this article, we propose to infuse multicultural concepts into the technology core courses that are taught in undergraduate teacher education programs. The need to do so was realized as a result of participation in a Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology (PT3) grant and the subsequent formation of an equity team that ultimately examined students' sensitivity to diversity and understanding of multicultural education. Drawing from the multicultural scholarship, the authors have developed an adapted schema that offers instructional technology a process for infusing multicultural content through the instructional technology curriculum. Students in these technology courses are taught that technology can be used to enhance learning and are encouraged to incorporate its use in their future teaching. As preservice and inservice teachers attempt to integrate technology into their elementary and secondary subject areas, they need to critically examine how such use will affect diverse ethnic, racial, and cultural learners. The authors contend that teacher education programs should go beyond independent attempts to infuse multicultural concepts and technology concepts into the curriculum. The double infusion models offered in this article present means of simultaneously integrating the themes, concepts, issues, and perspectives from both fields into the curricular experiences of the preservice teacher. Moreover, this article lays the theoretical groundwork for the implementation of the double infusion model into a teacher preparation program.

Transforming teacher education to support multicultural technology pedagogy: an assessment of preservice teachers' beliefs about multiculturalism and diversity

“…For critical multicultural education, research calls for thinking about technology from a multicultural perspective (McShay & Leigh, 2005;Sleeter, 2000) that has been constructed from the margins and provide the most insight. Because issues of multiculturalism are central to understanding the issues surrounding digital equity, critical pedagogy can serve to promote the goals of multicultural education and instructional technology.…”

“…However, most of the present research addressing this topic focuses primarily on describing successful programs, preservice teachers' experiences, or documenting changes in the way faculty utilize technology to prepare preservice teachers (Pellegrino, et al, 2007). While these studies are important, they fail to delineate the double infusion of multicultural education and technology (McShay & Leigh, 2005), even though both fields represent dramatic changes in the foundation of U.S. society and both are developing simultaneously (Damarin, 1998).…”

“…With effective uses of technology, learning new teaching models becomes an integral component in teacher preparation (Beckett et al, 2003). Therefore, as teacher education programs work to develop effective uses of technology, it is important to explore equity issues concerning technology access and use in teacher education (McShay & Leigh, 2005).…”

“…Therefore, teacher education programs have a responsibility to prepare preservice teachers for working with historically marginalized populations and implementing an effective multicultural curriculum (Banks & Banks, 2005;Bennett, 1995;Gay, 2000;Ladson-Billings, 1995;Nieto & Bode, 2008). As a way of expanding preservice teachers' understandings of these multicultural issues, researchers (Brown, 2004a;Clark & Gorski, 2001;Damarin, 1998;McShay & Leigh, 2005;Merryfield, 2001;Morse, 2004;Sleeter & Tettagah, 2002) have illustrated ways that instructional technologies can be used to support the goals of multicultural education. In addition, teachers are central to the equitable and effective uses of technology in our increasingly multicultural classrooms, it is important that preservice teachers are trained to be technologically competent teachers who can skillfully integrate technology in culturally diverse classrooms (Chisholm, 2000).…”

“…Based on a review of research, Gorski (2005) calls for more concrete steps toward dismantling the digital divide, encouraging educational leaders to look at technology critically and understand the social, political, and economic forces that create these inequities in technology use. Educators are urged to re-think technology integration using a critical multicultural education framework (McShay & Leigh, 2005;Schoorman, 2002) as a way of addressing these substantial inequities among schools' use of technology implementation.…”