Effects of the Preparation and Perception of Middle School Teachers on the Infusion of Multicultural Education

Author

John McCraney, Harding University

Date of Award

12-2014

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Education (EdD)

Department

Educational Leadership

Advisor

Dr. Connie Shay

Abstract

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the difference of how teachers perceive multicultural orientation, multiculturalism and cultural relations, multiculturalism and perceived sense of community, and multiculturalism and sense of responsibility based on gender, experience, and racial identity. The subscales on the Multicultural Emphasis Inventory (MEI) measured the teachers’ perceptions. The sample included middle school teachers in a large urban district in central Arkansas.

A quantitative, non-experimental research used four one-way analyses of variance to determine whether the evidence existed to reject the formulated hypotheses. The independent variables were as follows: gender for Hypotheses 1-4, teacher experiences for Hypotheses 5-8, and racial/ethnic identification for Hypotheses 9-12. The dependent variables for the hypotheses were multicultural orientation (Hypotheses 1, 5, and 9), multiculturalism and cultural relations (Hypotheses 2, 6, and 10), multiculturalism and perceived sense of community (Hypotheses 3, 7, and 11), and multiculturalism and sense of responsibility (Hypotheses 4, 8, and 12).

The results of this study showed no significant difference in multicultural orientation, cultural relations, sense of community, and a sense of responsibility based on gender and years of experience. Concerning racial identification, no significant difference existed in cultural relations, sense of community, and a sense of responsibility. However, teachers of color had a significantly higher total mean score in multicultural orientation.

One of the findings supported the importance of multicultural education. Another finding from the literature emphasized that cultural aspects of teaching and learning must be connected to the teacher and the learner.

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Recommended Citation

McCraney, John, "Effects of the Preparation and Perception of Middle School Teachers on the Infusion of Multicultural Education" (2014). Dissertations. 21.
https://scholarworks.harding.edu/hu-etd/21