Science and Technology, Teacher Preparation for Diversity

Science and technology are human intellectual endeavors to attain the goals of understanding the natural and designed world and applying that understanding to solve real-world problems. This entry addresses issues of teacher preparation of preservice teachers (i.e., teachers in training) and inservice teachers (i.e., teachers in practice) for student diversity in science and technology. The entry describes the current practices in teacher preparation for student diversity in science and technology. Then the entry describes key findings from current research on effective teacher preparation in the United States.

Various terms are used to indicate student diversity. In this entry, the terms mainstream and nonmainstream are used with reference to students' racial, ethnic, cultural, linguistic, and socio-economic status (SES) backgrounds. Mainstream students (i.e., White, middle- or upper-class, and ...