This study examined the role of critical reflection in developing cultural

awareness among pre-service teachers via coursework requiring students to act

and reflect on issues of diversity on a personal level. The Cultural Diversity

Awareness Inventory (CDAI) was used as a pretest and posttest measure of

students’ multicultural attitudes, and learning journals, final reflections and focus

group interviews were examined to investigate how reflection facilitated development

of cultural awareness. The CDAI indicates that pre-service teachers’

multicultural attitudes were improving. Critically reflecting on the issues of

culture, power and privileges, fostered pre-service teachers’ cultural awareness

and created cognitive dissonance within them, which positively influenced their

cultural awareness. Implications of the study for teacher education are discussed.