A Cosmopolitan Approach to Preparing Preservice Teachers for a Diverse World

Abstract

This article considers the future of teacher education through researching the impact of encouraging cosmopolitan perspectives in an undergraduate children’s literature course for preservice teachers. The research question focuses on how preservice teachers respond to reading and dialoguing through a cosmopolitan lens. Reading literature through a cosmopolitan lens entails a reflexive consideration of personal convictions and a reflective openness to learning from the perspectives of others. The results of this study provide insights into how preservice teachers understood a cosmopolitan response. The results also highlight the need for further critical inquiry into how to invite greater reflexive consciousness and reflective openness to other perspectives in preparing teachers for a diverse society.