Examining Teachers' Attitudes towards Multiculturalism according to Various Variables

Abstract

Although people have ethnic backgrounds at the point of origin, the concept of multiculturalism includes many notions such as race, gender, ethnicity, age, culture, ideological idea, religious belief and language. Moving from the fact that education is an important part of individuals' thought processes, it is seen that there is an increase in studies investigating the reflections of multiculturalism on educational processes in recent years. The purpose of the study was to investigate teachers’ attitudes towards multiculturalism according to various variables. This study was designed as a descriptive survey model, conducted on 280 teachers who work in 7 different regions of Turkey. Convenience sampling method was used in the study. The data of the study were collected with a measuring tool, which consists of ‘Personal Information Form’, and ‘Multicultural Attitude Scale’. Frequency (f), percentage (%), mean score (x̄ ), standard deviation (s) values were calculated, and T- test and One-Way ANOVA tests were performed. As a result of the research, it was found that teachers' attitudes towards multiculturalism are very high; teachers’ attitudes towards multiculturalism vary according to whether they speak a foreign language, the settlement in which they spent their childhood, the school’s geographic region, the level of their religious beliefs and education level. On the other hand, teachers’ attitudes towards multiculturalism do not vary according to their going abroad, the ethnic background of their parents, whether they have a multicultural education or whether their families have a disabled individual. The findings were discussed, and recommendations were made to the practitioners and researchers.