April 11, 2001

WKU Teacher Education Program Receives Funding For Project On Internationalism And Diversity

Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University is opening the GATE on internationalism and diversity in teacher preparation.

Project GATE (Global Approaches to Teacher Education) will support teacher education faculty in revising the curriculum to ensure that teacher education majors obtain knowledge and skills to more effectively work with students from diverse cultures whose primary language is not English.

Project GATE is being funded by a $160,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education. Western is collaborating with schools in Mexico City on the project.

"Schools in the Bowling Green area are experiencing a real need to have teachers better prepared to work with children of different backgrounds and languages," said Dr. Vicki Stayton, assistant to the dean for Grant Development in the College of Education and Behavioral Sciences.

The Hispanic population is growing across the United States and in southcentral Kentucky. Recently released Census figures show Warren County with a Hispanic population of 2,500.

As more Spanish-speaking children enter area school systems, teachers and schools must be prepared to meet the academic and social needs of children from Hispanic cultures.

"Our goal is to prepare teacher education students to work with students and families from diverse cultures," Dr. Stayton said.

Curriculum revisions proposed through Project GATE include a student teaching experience in the Mexico City area, required Spanish language courses, required electives from the University's global studies program, required English as a Second Language courses and field experiences with Hispanic children.

All teacher education students will benefit from the curriculum revisions, but a group of 20 to 25 students each semester will complete the total revised program, she said.

"The project definitely meets Western's strategic plan goal of increasing the international experience and global awareness of students and faculty," Dr. Stayton said.

For more information, contact Vicki Stayton at (270) 745-4662. More WKU news is available on the World Wide Web at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via E-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.