Journal of Education and Human Development

Deconstructing Gender bias in the Pre-Service Teacher Diversity Education Course
Dr. Gheorghita M. Faitar

Abstract
Nowadays, teacher training institutions feel compelled to introduce new strategies and practicum requirements for addressing the needs of teaching a student population coming from various economic, social, ethnical, religious, linguistic, gender orientations. The new requirements for graduating such institutions combine highly rigorous theoretical preparation schedules with a demanding practicum session. The new assessments’ requirements of the pre-service teachers and the importance of addressing student needs strongly correlates with multiple instructional factors in a classroom such as: female and male student instruction, implications of the course taking patterns for boys and girls in middle- and highschool years for students, and culminating with the importance of guided teaching and learning for most students. The paper reports results of an exploratory study examining factors that might be associated with achievement in school for both female and male students based on the training the pre-service teachers receive in the teacher-training institutions in the US. First-semester pre-service teachers at the conclusion of their course in multiculturalism and diversity are assessed on their knowledge of gender equity in education.

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