Culturally Responsive Teaching: Do We Walk Our Talk?(Promising Practices‪)‬

One aspect of teacher education scholarship lies not in the constant production of new concepts, but in the reproduction of theory and practice previously documented as critical for teacher success. While exploratory research furthers our fields of expertise, we have a larger responsibility to make sure that our current knowledge base is clearly instilled in our teacher candidates before they enter the workforce of the K-12 classroom. It is here where teacher educators either become hypocrites or role models as we are charged to walk our talk. Despite a repeated call for more inclusion, teacher candidates are still leaving their preparation programs without the skills, knowledge, or attitudes needed to work with all of their future students (Jones & Fuller, 2003). Some teacher candidates have a heart for diversity instruction but lack the knowledge and skills of how to go beyond scratching the surface with students.