ABSTRACT
This chapter addresses issues faced by teacher preparation programs trying to prepare students to work with families in support of their children. It describes one program in which a teacher education faculty has redesigned the teacher education program to better prepare preservice students to embrace and use family-centered strategies that are supportive of all learners. Some teacher education programs coordinate course work with service learning, experiential learning and field experiences so that teacher candidates experience working with diverse student populations and their families. Implicit in the development of cultural competence is an awareness of one’s own cultural biases particularly around what researchers describe as a deficit perspective toward poor culturally and linguistically diverse children and their families. Intentional instruction and preparation by faculty in strategies designed to support family engagement was the first step in implementing a family engagement model for teacher candidates.
