This document summarizes research on teacher trainings that target beliefs about cultural diversity. It finds that such trainings can positively impact pre-service teachers' cultural diversity beliefs, but that studies have methodological weaknesses. It recommends integrated, multidimensional trainings that combine educational and psychological perspectives, and comprehensively address beliefs through experiential learning and systematic evaluation of effects on both beliefs and teaching behaviors. The goal is to better prepare teachers to acknowledge and challenge their own beliefs to ensure equitable education for all students.

1. Challenging Beliefs about
Cultural Diversity in Education
Presenter: P. Mohammadi
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2. Overview
• A description of main components and contextual
characteristics of teacher trainings targeting cultural
diversity beliefs
• The training effects
• The methodological strengths and weaknesses of
these studies
• 36 studies / 2005 - 2015
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3. Introduction
• Beliefs: individual cognitive conceptions in constant relation to
behavior and external environment
• Beliefs act as a filter to knowledge, influence the framing of a
problem or a task, and guide the teacher’s intention and action
in the classroom(Fives & Buehl, 2012)
• During formal teaching preparation; beliefs are more
susceptible to change
• Teacher education: the principal vehicle to ensure that teachers
acknowledge and challenge beliefs about cultural diversity 3

4. Multidimensional Definition of
Beliefs about Cultural Diversity
• (1) Beliefs about own cultural self-efficacy,
• (2) Beliefs about cultural context and
environment,
• (3) Beliefs about cultural content or
knowledge,
• (4) Beliefs about culturally sensitive
teaching practices and approaches, and
• (5) Beliefs about culturally diverse students
and their families
Fives and Buehl (2012) 4

5. Teacher Training on Cultural Diversity Beliefs
• Training components as well as understanding how
trainings are positioned can provide meaningful
insights on the effects of cultural diversity trainings
on cultural diversity beliefs
• Understanding of these effects is incomplete without
a systematic consideration of the development of
those beliefs over time
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6. The Present Review
1) What are the main components and contextual characteristics of
teacher trainings targeting pre-service teachers’ beliefs about cultural
diversity?
2) What are the effects of these trainings on pre-service teachers’
beliefs about cultural diversity?
3) What are the methodological strengths and weaknesses of these
studies?
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7. Method
• descriptive and narrative approach
• use of words and text
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8. Implications for Teacher Training
• An integration of educational and psychological
perspectives to be implemented in teacher trainings
and the assessment of beliefs about cultural diversity
• Teacher trainings targeting cultural diversity beliefs
are mainly implemented with a standalone approach as
part of a more general teacher preparation programme.
• Teacher educators should integrate cultural diversity in
a comprehensive curriculum of teacher education 8

9. Multidimensionality of Cultural Diversity Beliefs
• complexity of teacher belief as well as cultural
diversity, seems to be an important aspect when
teacher educators design their programme and
training
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10. Addressed Areas of Cultural Diversity
• Beliefs towards culturally diverse students and their
families
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11. Effects on Cultural Diversity Beliefs
• positive effects on pre-service teachers’ cultural
diversity beliefs
• the dynamic nature of teachers’ beliefs
• the crucial role of multicultural teacher training
• experiential learning
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12. Conclusion
• The multidimensionality and complexity of cultural
diversity beliefs are rarely accounted
• Experiential learning in the form of field experience
and service-leaning community
• Systematic evaluation of the effects on beliefs in
combination with teaching behaviors
• Targeting and challenging pre-service teachers’
beliefs to assure equitable education to culturally
diverse students 12