Formación multi/intercultural del profesoradoperspectivas en los Estados Unidos y en España

Abstract

The challenge of teacher preparation is a particularly urgent one in Western societies where the cultural, ethnic, racial, and linguistic diversity of the student body is growing at the same time that the diversity of teaching staff is diminishing. In addition, most teachers from the majority cultures in these societies have had few experiences with people different from themselves. In this article we present our perspectives concerning the current state of intercultural/multicultural teacher education in the United States and Spain. Our collaboration is motivated by a sense of dialogic confrontation and critical self-analysis. Given our respective wiewpoints and experiences, it is our intention in this article to explore commonalities and implications of multicultural/intercultural teacher preparation, with a view toward an integration of these perspectives in the educational reform movements currently taking place in many societies, including our own. We attempt to describe the condition in both the United States and Spain that have led to the development of multicultural/intercultural education as a philosphical framework that demands a transformation in the preparation of teachers. We suggest some fundamental concepts that can help promote teacher education that is centered in equiality and social justice, and we cióse by calling attention to some of the principal challenges of developing multicultural perspectives in the preparation of educators.