Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Multiperspectivism as a threshold concept in understanding diversity and inclusion for future teachers

  • Published:
The Australian Educational Researcher Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Preparing teachers to support diverse learners to succeed in school is pivotal in addressing inequalities in society. This qualitative study investigated the ways in which future teachers developed their understanding of diversity and inclusion in one course in an Australian teacher education programme. This study analysed students’ learning using threshold concept theory as a theoretical framework. Three main aspects that were considered troublesome were identified from student teachers’ reflections, which interconnected to generate understandings of diversity. They are recognising others’ life worlds, examining self and experiencing otherness. This study supports the need to guide growth in inclusive education practices and recommends asking three questions: Who are you? Who am I? What does it mean to be other? By interlinking the effects of exploring these three questions, we propose multiperspectivism as a threshold concept. We suggest that multiperspectivism could inform curriculum design of teacher education programmes, recognising the necessity of including multiple opportunities to engage with ideas of diversity and in how to teach with diversity in classrooms.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Adler-Kassner, L., Majewski, J., & Koshnick, D. (2012). The value of troublesome knowledge: Transfer and threshold concepts in writing and history. Composition Forum, 26. Retrieved September 12, 2019, from http://compositionforum.com/issue/26/troublesome-knowledge-threshold.php.

  • Ahmed, S. (2004). Declarations of whiteness: The non-performativity of anti-racism. Borderlands, 3(2), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. (2011). Australian professional standards for teachers. Retrieved from https://www.aitsl.edu.au/docs/default-source/teach-documents/australian-professional-standards-for-teachers.pdf. Accessed 15 Sept 2019.

  • Barr, A., Gillard, J., Firth, V., Scrymgour, M., Welford, R., Lomax-Smith, J., …, Constable, E. (2008). Melbourne declaration on educational goals for young Australians. Melbourne, Australia: Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs.

  • Bishop, R., Berryman, M., Cavanagh, T., & Teddy, L. (2009). Te kotahitanga: Addressing educational disparities facing Māori students in New Zealand. Teaching and Teacher Education, 25(5), 734–742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2009.01.009.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Borg, S. (2011). The impact of in-service teacher education on language teachers’ beliefs. System, 39(3), 370–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1977). Cultural reproduction and social reproduction. In J. Karabel & A. H. Halsey (Eds.), Power and ideology in education (pp. 487–511). New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boylan, M., & Woolsey, I. (2015). Teacher education for social justice: Mapping identity spaces. Teaching and Teacher Education, 46, 62–71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2014.10.007.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Civitillo, S., Denessen, E., & Molenaar, I. (2016). How to see the classroom through the eyes of a teacher: Consistency between perceptions on diversity and differentiation practices. Journal of Research in Special Educational Needs, 16, 587–591.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Civitillo, S., Juang, L. P., & Schachner, M. K. (2018). Challenging beliefs about cultural diversity in education: A synthesis and critical review of trainings with pre-service teachers. Educational Research Review, 24, 67–83.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen, W., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2007). Research methods in education (6th ed.). New York: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Cousin, G. (2006). Threshold concepts, troublesome knowledge and emotional capital. In J. Meyer & R. Land (Eds.), Overcoming barriers to student understanding (pp. 134–147). Oxford: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Crawford-Garrett, K. (2018). Lacking resilience or mounting resistance? Interpreting the actions of Indigenous and immigrant youth within teachfirst New Zealand. American Educational Research Journal, 55(5), 1051–1075. https://doi.org/10.3102/0002831218769563.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • D’Cruz, H. (2007). Working with ‘diverse bodies, diverse identities’: An approach to professional education about ‘diversity’. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 11(1), 35–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603110500375457.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dee, A. L. (2010). Preservice teacher application of differentiated instruction. The Teacher Educator, 46(1), 53–70. https://doi.org/10.1080/08878730.2010.529987.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Derrida, J. (1976). The supplement of copula: Philosophy before linguistics. The Georgia Review, 30(3), 527–564.

    Google Scholar 

  • Diller, J. V., & Moule, J. (2005). Cultural competence: A primer for educators. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Felten, P. (2016). On the threshold with students. In R. Land, J. H. F. Meyer, & M. T. Flanagan (Eds.), Threshold concepts in practice (Vol. 68, pp. 3–9). Rotterdam: Sense. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-512-8.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fereday, J., & Muir-Cochrane, E. (2006). Demonstrating rigor using thematic analysis: A hybrid approach of inductive and deductive coding and theme development. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 5(1), 80–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Foucault, M. (1980). Power/knowledge: Selected interviews and other writings 1972-1977. New York: Pantheon Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garmon, M. A. (1998). Preservice teachers’ learning about diversity: The influence of their existing racial attitudes and beliefs. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL, October 14–17.

  • Garmon, M. A. (2005). Six key factors for changing preservice teachers’ attitudes/beliefs about diversity. Educational Studies, 38(3), 275–286. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326993es3803_7.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gay, G. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice. New York: Teachers College Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gay, G. (2015). The what, why, and how of culturally responsive teaching: International mandates, challenges, and opportunities. Multicultural Education Review, 7(3), 123–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/2005615X.2015.1072079.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gillan, K. P., Mellor, S., & Krakouer, J. (2017). The case for urgency: Advocating for Indigenous voice in education. Melbourne: Australian Council for Educational Research.

    Google Scholar 

  • Glock, S., & Kleen, H. (2019). Attitudes toward students from ethnic minority groups: The roles of preservice teachers’ own ethnic backgrounds and teacher efficacy activation. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 62, 82–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.stueduc.2019.04.010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kagan, D. M. (1992). Implications of research on teacher belief. Educational Psychologist, 27(1), 65–90. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15326985ep2701_6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kahn, L. G., Lindstrom, L., & Murray, C. (2014). Factors contributing to preservice teachers’ beliefs about diversity. Teacher Education Quarterly, 41(4), 53–70.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ladson-Billings, G. (1995). Toward a theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. American Educational Research Journal, 32(3), 465–491. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312032003465.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Liang, X., & Zhang, G. (2009). Indicators to evaluate pre-service teachers’ cultural competence. Evaluation & Research in Education, 22(1), 17–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500790903082354.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lozinski, M. & Collinson, I. (1999). Epistemological shudder: The X-Files, myths and mimetic capital. Presented at the UNSW postgraduate conference, June, Sydney.

  • Major, E. M., & Brock, C. H. (2003). Fostering positive dispositions toward diversity: Dialogical explorations of a moral dilemma. Teacher Education Quarterly, 30(4), 7–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Matias, C. E. (2016). Feeling white: Whiteness, emotionality, and education. Boston, MA: Sense Publishers.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Meyer, E., & Land, R. (2003). Threshold concepts and troublesome knowledge: Linkages to ways of thinking and practising within the disciplines (Occasional report no. 4; enhancing teaching-learning environments in undergraduate courses project). http://www.leeds.ac.uk/educol/documents/142206.pdf. Accessed 15 Sept 2019.

  • Mills, C. (2008). ‘I don’t have much of an ethnic background’: Exploring changes in dispositions towards diversity in pre-service teachers. International Journal of Pedagogies and Learning, 4(3), 49–58. https://doi.org/10.5172/ijpl.4.3.49.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moodie, N. (2019). Learning about knowledge: Threshold concepts for Indigenous studies in education. The Australian Educational Researcher, 46(5), 1–15.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Morgan, H. (2012). The social model of disability as a threshold concept: Troublesome knowledge and liminal spaces in social work education. Social Work Education, 31(2), 215–226.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Özbilgin, M. F., & Woodward, D. (2004). ‘Belonging’ and ‘otherness’: Sex equality in banking in Turkey and Britain. Gender, Work & Organization, 11(6), 668–688. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0432.2004.00254.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pajares, M. F. (1992). Teachers’ beliefs and educational research: Cleaning up a messy construct. Review of Educational Research, 62(3), 307–332. https://doi.org/10.3102/00346543062003307.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peček, M., & Ermenc, K. S. (2016). Educating teachers to teach in culturally and linguistically heterogeneous classrooms. Journal of Contemporary Educational Studies, 2, 8–25.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perkins, D. (1999). The many faces of constructivism. Educational Leadership, 57(3), 6–11.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reay, D. (2001). Finding or losing yourself?: Working-class relationships to education. Journal of Education Policy, 16(4), 333–346. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680930110054335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Samuels, A. J., Samuels, G. L., & Cook, T. M. (2017). Examining perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy in teacher preparation and teacher leadership candidates. SRATE Journal, 26(2), 50–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Santoro, N. (2009). Teaching in culturally diverse contexts: What knowledge about ‘self’ and ‘others’ do teachers need? Journal of Education for Teaching, 35(1), 33–45. https://doi.org/10.1080/02607470802587111.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Septor, L.M. (2019). Culture matters: Professional development and the implementation of culturally responsive pedagogy. PhD Dissertation. Rowan University. https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/2640.

  • Slee, R. (2018). Defining the scope of inclusive education. Paper commissioned for the 2020 global education monitoring report, inclusion and education.

  • Sleeter, C. (2008). Preparing white teachers for diverse students. In M. Cochran-Smith, S. Feiman-Nemser, & D. J. McIntyre (Eds.), Handbook of research on teacher education (3rd ed., pp. 559–582). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sleeter, C. (2012). Confronting the marginalization of culturally responsive pedagogies. Urban Education, 47(3), 562–584. https://doi.org/10.1177/0042085911431472.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, W. L., & Crowley, R. M. (2015). Pushback and possibility: Using a threshold concept of race in social studies teacher education. The Journal of Social Studies Research, 39(1), 17–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R., Moallem, M., & Sherrill, D. (1997). How preservice teachers think about cultural diversity: A closer look at factors which influence their beliefs towards equality. Educational Foundations, 11(2), 41–61.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taylor, S. V., & Sobel, D. M. (2003). Rich contexts to emphasize social justice in teacher education: Curriculum and pedagogy in professional development schools special issue: Partnering for equity. Equity & Excellence in Education, 36(3), 249–258. https://doi.org/10.1080/714044332.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Thomas, D., & Border, L. (2017). Diversity as a threshold concept: Graduate student teachers’ experiences negotiating liminality in the postsecondary classroom. Practice and Evidence of Scholarship of Teaching and Learning and Conceptual Difficulty, 12(2), 185–204.

    Google Scholar 

  • Timmermans, J. A., & Meyer, J. H. (2017). A framework for working with university teachers to create and embed ‘Integrated Threshold Concept Knowledge’ (ITCK) in their practice. International Journal for Academic Development, 24(4), 1–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tomlinson, C. A. (1999). Mapping a route toward differentiated instruction. Educational Leadership, 57, 12–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walker, G. (2013). A cognitive approach to threshold concepts. Higher Education, 65(2), 247–263.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warren, C. A. (2018). Empathy, teacher dispositions, and preparation for culturally responsive pedagogy. Journal of Teacher Education, 69(2), 169–183. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022487117712487.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, M. L., & Murray, J. (2015). Addressing educational disadvantage and poverty in preservice teacher education: How should we prepare our students? Paper presented at European Educational Research Conference, Budapest, Hungary: September 11, 2015.

  • Winitzky, N., & Barlow, L. (1998). Changing teacher candidates’ beliefs about diversity. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association. San Diego, CA, April 13-17.

  • Youdell, D. (2011). School trouble: Identity, power and politics in education. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

This project was partly funded through Summer Research Scholar funding from the University of Waikato to advance a programme of research (TC-VITAL (Threshold concepts—Visions of inclusive teaching and learning). The authors gratefully acknowledge the funding provided. The authors thank the participants who agreed to be involved in this research.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania, Launceston, Australia

    Kim Beasy

  2. Melbourne Graduate School of Education, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Australia

    Jeana Kriewaldt

  3. College of Education, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

    Helen Trevethan

  4. Summer Research Scholar, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Alan Morgan

  5. Faculty of Education, The University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Bronwen Cowie

Authors
  1. Kim Beasy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Jeana Kriewaldt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Helen Trevethan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Alan Morgan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Bronwen Cowie
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kim Beasy.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Beasy, K., Kriewaldt, J., Trevethan, H. et al. Multiperspectivism as a threshold concept in understanding diversity and inclusion for future teachers. Aust. Educ. Res. 47, 893–909 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00376-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-019-00376-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation