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“My Eyes were Opened”: Tracing the Conceptual Change of Pre-Service Teachers in a Special Education/Multicultural Education Course

As the number of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners with disabilities increases in the United States, many educators and policymakers purport that teacher education programs (TEPs) must incorporate multicultural education more substantively. However, we know very little about the impact of multicultural education on the thinking and actions of preservice teachers. Moreover, we know very little about how changes in content and format affect their outcomes on evaluative measures. This study traces the conceptual change of 26 preservice teachers enrolled in an introductory special education course with a multicultural component. Concept mapping and comparative essays were used to analyze quantitatively and qualitatively which concepts the preservice teachers found most salient and specific. Results indicated statistically significant changes in the concepts the students' deemed most central and specific. Also, qualitative analysis revealed that students' post-maps were more complex than their pre-maps. Implications for research and practice are included.