Gaining a Better Understanding of Self: A Self-Study in Cultural Competence in Teacher Education

This articles describes a year-long self-study in cultural competence. Armed with the understanding that “teachers first need to know their own cultures,” a small group of faculty researchers engaged in systematic self-study to better understand their own cultural competence in an effort to enhance teacher candidates’ cultural competencies. The overarching goals of the study were: for faculty researchers to better understand their own cultural competence and for faculty researchers to better understand their ability to create safe spaces in which teacher candidates could develop deeper understandings of their cultural competencies. Hence the faculty researchers worked collaboratively for the broader purposes of re-imaging classrooms as communities that foster new and more equitable opportunities for teaching and learning.