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Developing Cultural Competencies in Pre-Service Teachers Through Humanity Centered Design and Community-Based Learning

Teacher education programs advocating for culturally sustaining teaching practices are concerned with providing experiences that develop cultural competencies and dispositions for teaching in diverse environments. Gloria Ladson-Billings (1995), influential research in the area of culturally relevant pedagogy, found that effective educators understand the culture of their students and make “conscious decisions to be a part of the community from which their students come (p 479).” This article examines the potential of empathetic immersion into students’ communities using Humanity-Centered Design (HCD) for cultivating cultural competencies in preservice teachers (PTs). The authors describe how two HCD projects, a literacy center library and HCD informed lesson planning activity, immersed PTs into experiences that disrupt previously held beliefs and fostered dispositions for culturally effective teaching practices.