Teacher Candidates' Critical Thinking in an Education Program Committed to Urban Education (Report‪)‬

Introduction How teachers regard students' language, race, gender, and socioeconomic status has a profound effect on students' success in school (Comber & Simpson, 2001). When teachers believe that minority students' culture and language are deficits, they tend to seek solutions that "fix" the students, without questioning or altering the existing curriculum, teaching methods, or school policies that result in segregated classrooms and exclusion from success in school (Banks, 2002; Hollins & Guzman, 2005; Sleeter & Grant, 1999). Howard (1999) writes that it is impossible to teach what one doesn't know and that teacher education must help educators to become competent in multicultural contexts. Strategies and responses must be developed that ensure teachers are able to meet the needs of all children (Sharp, 2003). Diversity in the classroom must be viewed as a positive and relevant aspect of education (Cochran-Smith, 2004). Villegas and Lucas (2002) provide six criteria for culturally responsive teachers that are based on a goal of working toward social justice. Villegas and Lucas' criteria are centered on the notions that culturally responsive teachers are those who: