Title: Centring social justice in the TeachLivE™ simulated classroom: pre-service teachers' planning and implementation of culturally relevant and responsive teaching practices

Authors: Jim Carlson; Yuko Iwai; Heidi Masters; Fanica Young

Addresses: University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, 1725 State Street (185 B Morris Hall), La Crosse, WI 54601, USA ' University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, 1725 State Street (185 B Morris Hall), La Crosse, WI 54601, USA ' University of Wisconsin – La Crosse, 1725 State Street (185 B Morris Hall), La Crosse, WI 54601, USA ' University of Central Florida, 4000 Central Florida Blvd., Orlando, FL 32816, USA

Abstract: Pre-service teacher (PST) field placements often occur in homogeneous classrooms. Simulated classrooms are emerging as a complementary context for implementing new skills with culturally, linguistically, and socioeconomically diverse students. Previous studies have explored PSTs' perceptions or provided quantitative findings of their culturally relevant and responsive teaching in a simulated classroom. This study explores how 12 PSTs planned and implemented culturally relevant and responsive teaching practices in TeachLivE™. Results indicate PSTs excelled at planning and implementing lessons connected to the real world and aligned with students' culture(s). PSTs also maintained high expectations by attending to student behaviour in the moment and providing alternative modes of communication. Lastly, PSTs developed students' awareness of prejudice and reinforced the valuing of other cultures. These findings have important implications for teacher education programs seeking to provide a standardised learning experience for PSTs to practice implementing culturally relevant and responsive teaching practices with diverse learners.

Keywords: culturally relevant pedagogy; culturally responsive teaching; simulated classrooms; teacher education; pre-service teachers; PST.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLT.2024.139033

International Journal of Learning Technology, 2024 Vol.19 No.2, pp.134 - 157

Received: 14 Sep 2022
Received in revised form: 30 Jun 2023
Accepted: 03 Oct 2023
Published online: 10 Jun 2024 *

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