ANTHROP/SY 2018-2019

Assignment # 2 Research on CULTURE/CULTURAL DIVERSITY

Title TEACHER'S AWARENESS AND RESPONSE TO CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN

THE CLASSROOM

Proponent/s Pamela Barry

Year of 2015
Publication
Source Barry, P. 1997. Teacher's awareness and response to cultural diversity in the classroom.
Retrieved from https://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/mq22702.pdf
Background of The issue of teaching in a culturally diverse classroom environment is a reality for present
the Study day teachers. It is short-sighted for teachers to consider this a non-relevant issue, thereby
continuing to perpetuate inadequate teaching strategies for the students in this context.
Teachers must continually contend with society and the goals of education, endeavouring to
keep up with the community values and expectations. In today's classroom, each teaching
situation presents a unique challenge. These situations can cultivate difficulties in the
classroom for children, teachers and parents, unless there is awareness, as well as the
expertise or willingness, to create the best learning environment possible for al1 students.
This learning environment is a culture constructed by the interactions between the teacher
and students, creating the unique challenges.
The purpose of this research was to conduct a study that would attempt to discover teacher's
awareness of classroom culture. Specifically, the study would determine the teacher's
awareness of;
1. The culture in the classroom
2. The effect of classroom culture on the student
3. The effect of culture on the classroom
4. The teacher's response to cultural diversity in the classroom.
Research To allow for the examination of cultural diversity in the classroom, the following question
Question/s was pursued:
1. Are teachers aware of classroom culture?
2. What is their response to it?
An ethnographic model of research was chosen as the methodology as "it contributes to
basic research through 'grounded theory', essentially an inductive strategy for generating and
Methodology confirming theory that emerges from close involvement and direct contact with the
empirical world" (Paton, 1990). It was the purpose of this study to look for links and
patterns from the data collected and relate a perspective of the community that enlightens
the reader. Ethnography allows the researcher to make clear how people behave, including
their distinctive characteristics, and to determine the meaning we as humans attach to
certain actions. By doing this the ethnographer is "making inferences" (Spradley, 1973, p. 3)
and "reasoning from what we perceive or what we assume".
Many teachers may not be aware of their own culture and their student's culture and the
Results impact this has on teaching and learning. The purpose of this study is to examine teacher's
awareness of cultural diversity in the classroom and their response to it.
1. As for the results, teachers are aware of classroom culture. They also see that it is vital to
identify, appreciate and accept others beliefs and values and incorporating this into their
program, in a variety of ways, was a priority. Clearly, the benefits of learning together about
us and each other, was a way to build a productive learning environment.
2. It is a priority for al1 of them to integrate the values and beliefs of the family comfortably
and respectfully into their classrooms. They also commented on the effect of family
attitudes on children's behaviour, motivation and interest in school relative to academic
success. The teachers in the study also highlighted other issues that displayed their cultural
knowledge. Issues such as; the type of family a child lives in, number of siblings, language
barriers, economic restrictions and choice of peers can al1 impact the student within the
structure of the learning environment.
The central purpose of this study was the investigate teachers' awareness of cultural
Conclusion diversity in the classroom and their respective responses to it. The purpose of this study was
to explore how six teachers approached cultural diversity in the classroom, by studying their
awareness of, and responses to it.
 The conclusions in this study are similarly endorsed by Powell's statement; "the pluralistic
focus, which requires us to accommodate for diversity in the education process, from the
standpoint of a culture other than one's own, means accepting as valid the culturally
different leaner's values, their motives, the rewards that are meaningful to them, their locus
of control, their linguistic system, their learning style and their cognitive style". As for the
result, it is mutually beneficial for educators to celebrate diversity and believe in the
potential benefits that can be invoked in the education process.
Awareness and response will affect the teaching and learning environment. Michael Knapp
stated that "in classrooms where teachers actively or proactively engineer constructive
Implication/s of responses to student differences, students may have a better chance of success in both basic
the Study and higher-order skills (1995). The results implied that those teachers, who built their
program incorporating the differences as learning opportunities, were more successful with
their students.
Implications related to developing teacher's awareness and response to cultural diversity in
the classroom are:
1. to provide teachers with knowledge regarding diversity through in servicing from experts
in the field e.g. attending seminars and workshops related to cultural diversity
2. to provide the needed support within the classroom to develop the best learning
environment
3. to provide needed time to become aware of the student's backgrounds
4. to provide pre-service teachers with relevant course work and experience to cope with
diverse classrooms.

__________________________________
Signature

Submitted to:

DR. VIVIAN B. TITULAR

Professor