Teacher educators’ diversity-responsive practices: instrument development for quantitative assessment

Teacher educators are pivotal in shaping how the educational field approaches matters of diversity and social inequality. This study addresses the lack of quantitative research in this topic by developing and validating a survey instrument to assess teacher educators’ diversity-responsive practices. Specifically, exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and reliability analyses were performed on data collected from higher education-based teacher educators in Flanders (n = 362). The resulting instrument comprises 40 items divided over seven distinct scales. Additionally, insight into Flemish teacher educators’ practices is provided, advancing conversations between policymakers at the national and institutional level about possible strengths and potential areas for growth. In conclusion, this study adds to the literature, (a) methodologically, by providing a new measurement instrument that can be translated to other contexts; (b) empirically, by deepening our understanding of Flemish teacher educators’ diversity-responsive practices; and (c) practically, by facilitating potential (self-) reflection to inform professional development choices.