According to The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) position statement, “the nation’s children all deserve an early childhood education that is responsive to their families, communities, and racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds. For young children to develop and learn optimally, the early childhood professional must be prepared to meet their diverse developmental, cultural, linguistic, and educational needs.” Research suggests that when teachers have had the benefit of multicultural teacher education preparation, they are less likely to embrace cultural deficit views. To better prepare culturally responsive teachers to work successfully in culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms, Gist (2014) provides the following six characteristics:

1) Sociocultural consciousness

2) An affirming attitude toward students for culturally diverse backgrounds

3) Commitment and skills to act as agents of change

4) Constructivist views of learning

5) Learning about students

6) Culturally responsive teaching strategies

For this discussion, please address the following prompts:

1) Select one of the characteristics mentioned above.

2) Prepare a five-minute presentation that could be used for professional development with teachers and/or staff. For example, to provide professional development on culturally responsive teaching strategies, you could create a handout that defines the term, list the characteristics of culturally responsive teaching, and provide theoretical support for your definition.

3) Discuss the relevance of your chosen characteristic to professional development.

4) Support your work with the course text and at least one additional resource.