What predicts teachers’ concerns regarding intercultural education?

Abstract

Conceptual framework. Globalisation, migration processes and rapidly increasing diversity of student body call for intercultural teachers’ competence and intercultural approach to education. The Serbian education system, which participates in the global processes of social and economic change, is introducing intercultural approach to education. Such newly imposed expectations from teachers usually do not match their notions of what good teaching is. Indicators of such conflicting conceptions are teachers’ concerns which have to be resolved in order for the (educational) change to run smoothly (van den Berg, 2002). Main objectives. We hereby deal with teachers’ concerns about working in culturally diverse classrooms. The main objective is to identify school and teacher characteristics that could predict degree to which teachers are concerned. Methodology. Research included 159 teachers from 8 (elementary and secondary) schools in 6 cities that could be described as either culturally homogenous or diverse communities. Two instruments were administered: 1) Intercultural Development Inventory (Hammer, 2009) measuring teachers’ intercultural sensitivity (here worldview) and 2) Global teachers’ concern about practical implementation of intercultural education (GTC) - constructed for the purpose of this research. Results. In order to identify school and teachers’ qualities that could predict GTC, regression analysis was conducted. Of all school characteristics assessed, two were significant: school type (in elementary and secondary vocational schools higher levels of GTC were reported than in grammar schools) and the environment type (in monocultural communities GTC is higher than in culturally diverse ones). Teachers’ qualities significantly predicting GTC were teaching experience and worldview - those more experienced and those with ethnorelative compared to ethnocentric views report higher GTC. As this analysis showed that none of the interactions are significant, general linear model containing main effects only with four independent variables and the covariate was applied. The final model (F(5)=8,968, p<0,01) explains 21.6% of variance showing that the most important predictor is the school type (partial eta2=10.9%), followed by the worldview (partial eta2=5.7%) and environment type (partial eta2=5.0%). Conclusion. This paper sheds light on factors contributing to teachers’ concerns regarding quality education in culturally heterogeneous classrooms. Therefore it opens the path for resolving them in order to successfully tackle challenges and uncertainties brought by social and economic change in the global context. Consequently, in trying to help teachers bring out the educational change we must consider school features first and see how they allow teachers and their perspectives to adapt to new demands.