Challenging the Supported Curriculum: Faculty Members’ Attitudes toward Caribbean and Louisiana Content in Undergraduate French and Spanish Textbooks


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DOI:

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/1645

Keywords:

Caribbean, Louisiana, World language education, Multicultural Education, Curriculum and Instruction, curriculum leadership, instructional leadership

Abstract

Guided by a theoretical framework underpinned by Critical Multicultural Education (Banks, 2019), this study aimed to understand university faculty members’ attitudes toward the presentation of Caribbean and Louisiana-themed content in French and Spanish textbooks and their associated teaching practices. A Likert-Scale survey was employed, and it was discovered that faculty members felt textbook content about the Caribbean was more or less accurate, but content about Louisiana was inaccurate. Likewise, they had to adjust their teaching practices to be more intentional about how these areas are presented in their teaching and represented in novice and intermediate French and Spanish courses. The findings of this study help to inform curriculum design in higher education World Language courses and assist in curriculum development efforts that align with frameworks that center on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion as the core of course design.

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Author Biography

Jerry Parker, Morris Brown College

Dr. Jerry L. Parker is an instructor of French, Spanish, and World Language Education in the Department of World Languages and Cultures at Southeastern Louisiana University (Hammond, Louisiana). He also serves as Director of the Foreign Language Resource Center and Undergraduate Program Coordinator. His research agenda centers on issues of Curriculum, Instruction, Student Retention, Change, and Innovation in Higher Education and World Language programs. He also serves as an adjunct assistant professor of Spanish at Morris Brown College (Atlanta, Georgia) and is a student in the Master of Public Administration program at Southern University and A&M College (Baton Rouge, Louisiana).

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Published

2023-09-25

How to Cite

Parker, J. (2023). Challenging the Supported Curriculum: Faculty Members’ Attitudes toward Caribbean and Louisiana Content in Undergraduate French and Spanish Textbooks. Journal of Ethnic and Cultural Studies, 10(4), 193–212. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejecs/1645

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Original Manuscript
Received 2023-04-09
Accepted 2023-09-15
Published 2023-09-25