Date Approved

2-2013

Date Posted

9-29-2014

Degree Type

Open Access Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department or School

Leadership and Counseling

Committee Member

Dr. Eboni M. Zamani-Gallaher, Chair

Committee Member

Dr. David Anderson

Committee Member

Dr. David Bair

Committee Member

Dr. Michael Stearns

Abstract

Currently, in the United States there is incongruence between student demographics in public schools and the characteristics of American K-12 teachers. More specifically, there are growing numbers of students of color, while the majority of teachers are White, middle-class females. Given the increasing pluralism in U.S. schools, it is imperative that teachers have multicultural self-efficacy as well as an awareness of White privilege in order to be prepared to teach in a culturally competent manner. Educators and students must be prepared to live and work effectively in a social system as well as a global environment where they will need to be able to work with people of different races and cultural practices. This necessitates a change in the way schools and teachers traditionally have functioned as well as the preparation of preservice teachers entering the field. It is negligent to enter preservice teachers into the field of education without taking proper measures to increase their level of multicultural self-efficacy and awareness of White privilege. This study will examine preservice teachers' multicultural self-efficacy and awareness of White privilege. The current literature on cultural competence is robust in the field of counseling/social work and healthcare; however, it does not explore multicultural self-efficacy and white privilege in depth and certainly does not extend to the field of education. Herein lies the gap in the current research. Critical Race Theory, Critical White Studies, and Self-efficacy Theory are the lens for multicultural self-efficacy and awareness of White privilege in this study.

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