Developing Preservice Teachers’ Cultural Competency through Urban Immersion

Authors

  • Leigh E. Szucs, PhD, CHES
  • Meagan Shipley, PhD, CHES
  • Elisa ‘Beth’ McNeill, PhD, CHES
  • Jeff Housman, PhD, CHES
  • Crystal Vinal, MS

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.47779/ajhs.2019.34

Keywords:

Service Learning, Cultural Competency, School Health, Cultural Immersion, Preparation

Abstract

This study examined how immersion experiences and a service-learning project influenced preservice teachers’ (PST) cultural competence.Questionnaires and focus group data were analyzed to measure changes in PST competency before and after experiences in NYC schools. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test revealed statistically significant improvements in pre- (M=59.18, SD=15.04) and post- (M=68.64, SD=14.41) scores for Cultural Competency Behavior; yielding a medium intervention effect (d =.306). Non-significant differences between pre- (M=63.47, SD=4.33) and post- (M=65.23, SD=5.50) scores for Cultural Awareness and Sensitivity were reported. Qualitative themes include urban culture shock;Teacher
and student motivations; Creative lesson planning; and Perception of future teaching practices.

Published

2020-11-12

How to Cite

Szucs, L. E., Shipley, M., McNeill, E. ‘Beth’, Housman, J., & Vinal, C. (2020). Developing Preservice Teachers’ Cultural Competency through Urban Immersion. American Journal of Health Studies, 34(2). https://doi.org/10.47779/ajhs.2019.34

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