Reprint: The Role of Empathy in Teaching Culturally Diverse Students: A Qualitative Study of Teachers’ Beliefs

A Systematic Review of the Literature on Inservice Professional Development Explicitly Addressing Race and Racism

“…Washington (1981) studied changes in teachers’ “multicultural education attitudes,” addressing “teachers’ opinions about the concepts of school desegregation and multicultural education and the impact of these concepts on educational practice” (p. 188), whereas Sleeter (1997) examined the relationship between multicultural education and teachers’ mathematics instruction. McAllister and Irvine (2002) attempted to shift educator beliefs about the importance of empathy with the goal of developing culturally responsive educators, and Lawrence and Tatum (1997b, 1998) examined White educators’ beliefs about how their White racial identity had impacted their values and choices as educators. Michael (2015) sought to develop “racial competence” among White teachers, addressing, for example, learning “to notice and analyze racial dynamics as they occur” and “to raise race questions about oneself and one’s practice” (p. 5).…”

“…Across these studies, researchers have documented catalysts for learning such as experiential activities and simulations (e.g., Brock et al’s [2012] Kirundi lesson or McAllister and Irvine’s [2002] bafa bafa game); lectures from expert researchers addressing issues of racial equity (e.g., Sleeter, 1992c); racially diverse parent panels (e.g., Eberly et al, 2010); “cultural-immersion experiences” (Irvine, 2003, p. 80; McAllister & Irvine, 2002); student surveys (Philip, 2011); action research projects (Michael, 2015; Zion et al, 2015); patterns noted during classroom observations (Michael, 2015); and texts detailing critical approaches to understanding race and racism (e.g., Singleton’s [2014] Courageous Conversations About Race ) to introduce new perspectives, knowledge, and concepts. Researchers subsequently documented inquiry processes and tools used in PD, primarily to address racialized experiences and identity (e.g., critical autoethnographies and Helms’ [1995] theory of White racial identity development) and power and oppression (Yosso’s [2005] community cultural wealth framework and Freirean pedagogy [Freire, 2012]) to extend and apply teacher inquiry using a range of reflective questions on both the personal and classroom levels.…”

“…Both Washington (1981) and Sleeter (1992a, 1992c) concluded PD was received favorably by many participants due to practical workshops addressing classroom practices, but “the overall impact of the training as measured by the pre-and posttests was very negligible” (Washington, 1981, p. 188), and similarly, “observable changes in classroom teaching were limited” (Sleeter, 1992c, p. 142). Finally, McAllister and Irvine (2002) documented how despite teachers connecting empathy to their practices, “only 3 of the [34] teachers focused on practices that addressed institutional or reconstructivist issues such as unequal school resources, issues of racism, tracking, and unfair discipline procedures” (p. 441).…”

“…Kennedy (2016) argued, “Teachers can learn and espouse one idea, yet continue enacting a different idea, out of habit, without even noticing the contradiction” (p. 947). This reality is particularly salient with equity-oriented learning, as researchers find teachers may rate equity-oriented PD highly but not shift their practices (McAllister & Irvine, 2002; Sleeter, 1992a, 1992c; Washington, 1981) and may engage in fewer antiracist practices than their PD reflections suggest due to school-level factors (Lawrence, 2005; Picower, 2011, 2012). Likewise, White teachers may condemn racism and verbalize awareness of inequality while failing to take action to disrupt racial inequality (Vaught & Castagno, 2008; Yoon, 2012; Young, 2011).…”

Trends in diversity-related learning among secondary schools in 35 US states, 2014–2018

“…Recent increases in both pre-service and in-service teacher training and professional development (PD) offerings related to diverse, culturally relevant teaching and curricula may also support the implementation of classroom-based opportunities for students to learn about people who are different from them (Bottiani et al, 2018; Brown et al, 2019; McKenney et al, 2017). When teachers receive PD related to teaching students from various cultural backgrounds and identities, not only does teacher-self efficacy related to meeting the needs of diverse students increase (Choi and Mao, 2021; Christ and Sharma, 2018; Jarpe-Ratner et al, 2022; Johnson, 2011; McAllister and Irvine, 2002; Payne and Smith, 2011), but students are more likely to perceive supportive instructional environments and student-centred practices and experience confidence and comfort within the school community (Jarpe-Ratner et al, 2022; McAllister and Irvine, 2002; Payne and Smith, 2011).…”