Chapter 5: Culturalizing and Animating Educational Psychology Teaching: A Translational Theory-to-Practice Paradigm

The United States population is becoming increasingly diverse with no one ethnic group projected to constitute more than 50% of the overall population by 2060; among the population of children, minorities are slated to become the numerical majority in 2020 (Colby & Ortman, 2015). Indeed, students who are currently enrolled in U.S. public schools are more culturally diverse¹ than student populations of the past few decades (National Center for Education Statistics, 2020). This population diversity is scattered across all public-school systems (urban, suburban, and rural) and is coupled with an economic shift as the percentage of students living in poverty is also growing (AASA, 2017; Gurley, 2016). These projected population shifts and concurrent economic changes in the public-school student population are substantial and contrast sharply with the current make-up of the public-school teacher population, which is predominantly White and middle class (Graham, 2018). The U.S. Department of Education report finds that most individuals enrolled in teacher education programs will continue to be primarily White and middle class (King Jr., et al., 2016). As educational psychologists, if we are sincere in our concern about the education of our public-school students, we need to not simply track these demographic trends; we must address them. This means that the curricular content of courses taught in U.S teacher education programs needs to prepare prospective teachers to successfully educate culturally diverse public-school students. In this regard, educational psychology is well-positioned to educate preservice teachers to be culturally knowledgeable and aware, economically conscious, and sensitive to their students’ academic and socioemotional needs.