Sleeter Article

When reading the article "Preparing Teachers for Culturally Diverse Schools" by Sleeter, I found myself getting quite frustrated.  I understood a lot that was being addressed and could see the point she was trying to make that teachers need to be prepared when they are going to be teaching in culturally diverse schools.  And that teachers also need to be able to bring in a multicultural curriculum to the classroom.  I also understood that people who are culturally diverse and come from certain backgrounds may have an easier time teaching in culturally diverse schools because they can relate, however I disagreed with that fact that they will be better teachers in general over a White preservice teacher (like the article was saying).  I do believe that someone's background can help them in certain ways, but I do not think that the race of someone will make them better at teaching verse another person.  The article talked about the need to recruit and select preservice teachers who are of color because they will be able to relate and teach culture in classrooms better than white preservice teachers, but truthfully I believe it is more than that.  People need to recruit and select preservice teachers who have a love for culture and want to embrace it and teach it, it should not matter the color they are.  I believe that it is the experiences that one has and the competence they have which helps shape them into being a good teacher.  If a White preservice teacher is given the opportunity to learn about multicultural diversity through schooling, observation, and even hands on learning, they are capable of being prepared to teach in a culturally diverse setting.  And hey, no one can ever be fully prepared no matter where you are going to teach.  I think what really matters is the drive and passion a teacher has towards cultural diversity.  We all are TESOLers for a reason and I think we all can agree we want to embrace cultural diversity and bring it into our classrooms.  It offends me that someone thinks just because of the color of my skin, I will not be as prepared to do that as someone who is of another color.  I know I do not have some experiences that others have had dealing with cultural diversity, but I have had some.  I have a drive for teaching and I want to be put in a very culturally diverse classroom and be able to embrace the culture into my curriculum.  I know I will be able to do that just from things I have learned in my classes here at ISU and from observations I have done.