A Comparative Study of Multicultural Awareness among In-service School Teachers

Brian Joseph Vassallo

Abstract


The paper examines Multicultural Awareness as perceived by in-service school teachers across three different countries. After conducting a review of literature on multicultural awareness, the author realized that 1) literature on multicultural awareness seems to focus almost entirely on pre-service teachers and 2) different circumstances have prompted different countries to catalyze measures to accommodate the changing multicultural contexts. The study aims to provide scholarship for school teachers on the complexity of multicultural education. Using the Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (Henry, 1986, modified) the study highlights various aspects of awareness namely cultural awareness in the classroom, cross-cultural communication, culturally diverse families, multicultural learning environment, and assessment criteria. These are then analyzed using Chi Square statistics. Results indicate disparities in some areas of cultural awareness in the classroom and culturally diverse families. Conclusions and suggestions for future research follow, based on findings.

Keywords


Bilateral Framework, Multicultural Education, Teaching, Learning

Full Text:

PDF

References


Banks, J. A. (2007). Race, culture, and education: The selected works of James A. Banks. New York, NY: Routledge.

Baeten, M., Dochy, F. and Struyven, K. (2013). The effects of different learning

environments on students’ motivation for learning and their achievement. British Journal of Educational Psychology V(12) (3) pp. 484-501

Cho, G. & DeCastro-Ambrosetti, D. (2006). Insight into Teachers’ View of Minority

Parents’ Attitudes toward Education: Who cares? Paper presented at the annual conference of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), San Francisco, California.

Creating the Future together (1999). Accessed from http://www.ibe.unesco.org/curricula/malta/mm_alfw_2011_eng.pdf on 1st August 2014.

Creswell, J. W. (1994). Research designs: Qualitative and quantitative approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Creswell, J. W. (2009). Research designs: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Daniels, R. (2008). The immigration act of 1965: Intended and unintended consequences. In the U.S. Department of States, Bureau of International Information Programs (Ed.), Historians on America: Decisions that made difference (pp. 76-83). Retrieved from http://www.america.gov/media/pdf/books/histori¬ans-on-america.pdf

DuPraw, M.E. & Axner, M. (1997). Toward a more perfect union in an age of diversity: Working on common cross-cultural communication challenges. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/ampu/crosscult.html on 1st July 2014

For all children to succeed: A new network organization for quality education in Malta. Ministry

of Education (2005). Malta: MOED.

Foucher, M. 1994. Minorities in central and eastern Europe. Strasbourg: Council of Europe.

Giordmaina J. (Ed.) (2000). Proceedings – National curriculum on its way. A conference held

on the 9-11th June 2000. Malta: MOED.

Harry, B., (2008). Collaboration with culturally and linguistically diverse families, ideal

versus reality. Exceptional Children, 74(3), 372-388..

Henry, G. (1986). Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory. Hampton, VA: Hampton University. Mainstreaming Outreach Project. ERIC Document Reproduction Service No. ED 282 657.

Heritage classes’ international exchanges (2010). Assessed from http://www.world-heritage.org/

on 1st August (2014).

Intercultural dialogue and conflict prevention (2002-2004) assessed from on 1st August

from http://www.comminit.com/ict-4-development/content/intercultural-dialogue-and-conflict-prevention-project-europe

Kea, K., Trent, S., & Davis, C. (2002). African American Student Teachers’ Perceptions

About Preparedness to Teach Students from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds. Multicultural Perspectives, 4, 18-25.

Larke, P. J. (1990). Cultural diversity awareness inventory: Assessing the sensitivity of preser¬vice teachers. Action in Teacher Education, V12(3), 23-30.

Milner, H. R., Flowers, L. A., Moore, E., Jr., Moore, J. L., III, & Flowers, T. A. (2003). Preservice teachers’ awareness of multicul¬turalism and diversity. High School Journal, 87(1), 63-70.

National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education(1994). NCATE Standards: Unit standards. Washington DC: Author

The Multicultural Victoria Act (2004), retrieved from

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/governance/pages/multilegact.aspx on 26th March 2013

National Center for Educational Statistics. (2010). Characteristics of school principals.

Retrieved from http://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/2010/section4/table-pal-1.

asp

Pope, J. and Wilder, J. (2005). Now that I’m out in the field: Student teaching and valuing

diversity. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 32(4), 322-328.

Portera (2003). Educazione e pedagogia interculturale in Italia e in Europa. In Pedagogia

interculturale in Italia e in Europa. Aspetti epistemologici e didattici, ed. A. Portera. Milan: Vita e Pensiero.

Portera (2006) Educazione interculturale in Europa. In Educazione interculturale nel contest

internazionale, ed. A. Portera. Milan: Guerini.

Premier, J.A and Miller J. (2010). Preparing Pre-service Teachers for Multicultural

Classrooms. Australian Journal of Teacher Education.V35 (2)

Sue, D.W., Bernier, J.B., Durran, M., Feinberg, L., Pedersen, P., and Smith, E. (1982).

Position Paper: Cross-cultural counseling competencies. The Counseling Psychologist, 10, 45-52.

Taylor, L. and Whittaker, C. R. (2009). Bridging multiple worlds: Case studies of diverse

educational communities (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Pearson.

The Challenge of Intercultural Education today: Religious Diversity and Dialogue in Europe’

(2002-2005). Assessed from https://book.coe.int/eur/en/human-

rights-education-intercultural-education/3692-religious-diversity-and-intercultural-education-a-reference-book-for-schools.html on 1st August 2014

The racist and religious tolerance act (2001), retrieved from

http://www.education.vic.gov.au/school/principals/governance/pages/multitolerance.aspx on 25th March 2013.

U.S. Census Bureau (2009). Characteristics of people by language spoken at home.

Retrieved from http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-geo_id=01000US&-qr_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_S1601&-ds_name=ACS_2007_3YR_G00_&-_lang=en&-redoLog=false&-CONTEXT=st

Vassallo, B. (2008). Classroom climate as perceived by Maltese and Non-Maltese pupils

in Malta. Malta Review of Educational Research, 6, 80-81. Retreived August 5th, 2011, from http://www.um.edu.mt/educ/about/publications/mrer

Watson, S.L., Park, G.C., Lee, H. (2011). Pre-service Teachers’ Awareness and

Attitudes on South Korea’s Increasing Cultural and Ethnic Diversity and the Role of Multicultural Education in K-12 Schools. International Journal of Education V3(2).

Youth building peace and International Dialogue (2004). Assess from http://www.salvaeco.org/html/stiri/2003/03/14.php on 1st August 2014.


Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


e-ISSN: 1694-2116

p-ISSN: 1694-2493