Multicultural Training of Teachers for Schools and Preschool Educational Institutions in the United States

Abstract

The latest Ukrainian system of professional training of qualified specialists is aimed at meeting the needs of not only Ukrainian applicants for education but also potential foreign students, as a result of which the issues of intercultural communication, compliance with tolerance, patience in the educational process and further activities, in particular in school education institutions, are updated. The purpose of the article is to identify the characteristic features of American multicultural training of teachers and employees of preschool educational institutions to improve the Ukrainian educational space based on foreign experience. This goal was achieved using such general research methods as analysis, synthesis and comparison. The article deals with the problem of organising multicultural education in the United States. The essence of the concepts of “multiculturalism” and “multicultural education” is revealed. The main attention is focused on the issues of multicultural training of teachers: school teachers and preschool teachers. The article analyses the programmes and standards of pedagogical training, the requirements for accreditation regarding the presence of elements of multicultural education in the programs. The features of multicultural training of teachers and educators of preschool educational institutions in the context of multicultural education are identified, including the reproduction of pluralism of American society, the obligation to learn a second language, getting rid of stereotypes and biases in the content of the curriculum, integration of multicultural components of the educational process, as well as a flexible curriculum. The value of scientific work lies in identifying the key elements of multicultural training of teachers in America, based on which it is possible to develop a structural and functional model for updating the content of Ukrainian curricula in the context of multiculturalism and tolerance