Unfocused image of change represents scholarship funding

Instilling change: Integrating IAED in CTE

University educator preparation programs (EPPs) are responding to the need to address inclusion, access, equity and diversity (IAED) in the classroom. A variety of strategies are being utilized, including revision of coursework, new course additions, tailored field experiences and more.

Further, across subject-specific disciplines, educators have taken varying approaches to diversify curriculum, too. For example, within my own field of family and consumer sciences (FCS), teacher candidates are exploring secondary FCS curricula for gaps and opportunities to include underrepresented knowledge and perspectives.

Instilling change in educator preparation

This work promises to help us move beyond the stalwart white, middle-class, Western perspectives that have guided curriculum development. And while significant, this is only a starting point for career and technical education (CTE). CTE educates a diverse group of students across many career pathways. So, it is important that CTE EPPs shape thoughtful curricula and teacher candidate experiences. Prepare future educators to meet the needs of their students.

IAED practices are also an expectation of educator preparation accrediting bodies.

Across many states, teacher candidates (and practicing teachers, too) are evaluated against the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) standards or something similar. These InTASC standards embody IAED perspectives as teachers must demonstrate “critical dispositions.”


  • To develop global understandings within the discipline
  • To build the capacity of all students
  • To demonstrate an embrace of diversity within and beyond their classrooms

Additionally, the InTASC standards relate IAED principles directly to ethical practices, understood by a teacher
candidate’s commitment to “deepening understanding of [their] own frames of reference (e.g., culture, gender, language, abilities, ways of knowing), the potential biases in these frames, and their impact on expectations for and relationships with learners and their families” (CCSSO, 2013). Consider how to accomplish this goal.

TECHNIQUES_ February 2023_ Duncan

Read more in Techniques in February 2023.