Moving beyond the classroom: Pre- and in-service teachers’ self-efficacy for working with culturally and linguistically diverse students

ABSTRACT

As the number of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) students increases, teachers need to leverage their professional capacity to be responsive and inclusive in their teaching. However, many teachers feel unprepared to work effectively with CLD students. In our study, we present evidence for a self-efficacy scale that measures teachers’ confidence in enacting culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy (CLRP). We then explore the relative contributions of teachers’ self-efficacy to enact CLRP. The results suggest that CLRP self-efficacy positively predicted teachers’ advocacy for and engagement with families and community, and teachers’ teaching and assessment of CLD students.

KEYWORDS:

• Culturally and linguistically relevant pedagogy
• self-efficacy
• teacher education

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) Grant Number T365Z160034.

Notes on contributors

Yuliya Ardasheva

Yuliya Ardasheva, an associate professor in multilingual (ML) education at Washington State University Tri-Cities, studies simultaneous language and academic development, individual differences, and teacher ML preparation, beliefs, and practices.

Lindsay Lightner

Lindsay K. Lightner is an assistant professor in Teaching and Learning at Washington State University Tri-Cities. Her research and teaching focus on individuals’ science identities and advancing equitable science learning for culturally and linguistically diverse learners.

Sarah N. Newcomer

Sarah N. Newcomer is an associate professor in Language, Literacy, and Technology at Washington State University Tri-Cities. Her research, teaching, and service focus on culturally sustaining, socially just literacy instruction as well as home-school partnerships, particularly for multilingual learners.

Gisela Ernst-Slavit

Gisela Ernst-Slavit is a professor in Language, Literacy, and Technology at Washington State University in Vancouver. Her teaching and research draw on sociocultural perspectives and center on understanding second language literacy development and teacher preparation for culturally and linguistically diverse.

Judith A. Morrison

Judith A. Morrison is a professor of science education at Washington State University Tri-Cities; her research, teaching, and service are focused on the professional development of preservice and in-service teachers.

Steven J. Morrison

Steven J. Morrison is a lecturer in Teaching and Learning at Washington State University Vancouver. His research outlines the intersection of multilingual, cross-cultural teacher identity, the wealth of student cultural knowledge, and classroom practice.