Multicultural Children’s Literature and Teacher Candidates’ Awareness and Attitudes Toward Cultural Diversity

The purpose of this study was to look at elementary/middle school pre-service teachers’ perceptions of multicultural and diversity issues through multicultural children’s literature. Nineteen pre-service teachers in a foundation of literacy course explored multicultural children’s literature and involved group/class discussions and a project over the semester. Data was collected using the pre- and post-Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (CDAI), open-ended responses, quick writings, projects, and class interactions. The results showed that while they were not familiar with multicultural children’s literature at the beginning of the semester, at the end of the semester they developed positive attitudes toward learning about them, identified them as crucial to foster children’s awareness of diversity, and planned to use them in their future classrooms. They also increased their positive attitudes toward multicultural and diversity issues. In particular, they were most aware of two categories, cultural diversity and multicultural environment, in the CDAI.