Abstract
The Multilingual/Multicultural Teacher Preparation Center (M/M Center), a teacher preparation program offered by the Bilingual/Multicultural Education Department (BMED) at California State University, Sacramento, is entering its third decade of operation. The M/M Center was established by a group of progressive teacher educators, most with a history of activism and advocacy around democratic education, immigrant rights, and the elimination of racism and other forms of discrimination in local schools and our own university. The Center founders developed a comprehensive program to prepare teachers to be change agents actively working towards social justice in low-income and culturally and linguistically diverse classrooms, schools, and communities. Race-conscious and language-conscious policy-making and program development characterize the program's history and current operations. Multicultural content and the application of theory into practice through extensive field experiences in schools serving low-income and culturally and linguistically diverse students anchor the program's design. Focus on these issues combined with active and strategic recruiting and support make the M/M Center an attractive option for students of color and bilingual students who typically select the teaching profession as the avenue through which they will work towards social justice for the children in their communities. By sharing details and analysis of the M/M Center, the authors hope to engage other social justice educators in critical reflection on effective practices in multicultural/multilingual teacher recruitment to and retention in teacher preparation programs. This article is organized as follows: (a) the theoretical framework that orients the authors' efforts to recruit and retain students of color and bilingual students; (b) history of the M/M Center; (c) highlights from their multiple and single subject programs; and (d) reflections on the M/M Center's accomplishments. It describes the M/M Center based on the experiences and perspectives of the authors--one of whom was a co-founding member of the M/M Center and of BMED, and others who have been active in recent transformations of the Center and Department. Where appropriate, they accentuate their description with data from a limited set of sources including graduate exit surveys, student work, student interviews, and anecdotal stories and accounts. (Contains 5 notes.)