ABSTRACT
This chapter describes a restructuring process with a special focus on culturally responsive pedagogy within a preservice teacher preparation program beginning with the development of racial awareness of preservice candidates in a literacy course embedded in an urban university located in the Midwest. To illustrate the change process, a description of a literacy course will be provided including implications for vertical alignment with corresponding courses within the program. The course included a semester-length supervised clinical experience in an urban high school within close proximity to the university. A larger goal was to integrate this effort into our teacher preparation programs within the school of education. The majority of our secondary and special education candidates were white middle-class females from the Midwest region. Results from the first 3 years of implementation suggest that greater racial awareness can be accomplished through sustained conversations while candidates are in embedded course/clinical experiences.
