Diversity Topics Covered in Teaching of Psychology Courses

Abstract

Teaching of psychology courses trains graduate students in pedagogy, but little is known about how diversity is addressed in these courses. A survey of instructors in teaching of psychology courses assessed their coverage of diversity and classroom bias, as well as the instructional methods used to cover them. Results indicated that 87% of instructors covered diversity issues, and 78% covered bias that occurs in the classroom. Instructors who covered diversity and bias devoted 3 to 5 hr to the topics and primarily used traditional instructional methods, such as discussion, readings, and lectures. Older instructors tended to cover fewer topics than younger instructors. Although diversity topics are part of teaching of psychology courses, it is unlikely that the time devoted to the topics is sufficient preparation for teaching in diverse classrooms.