Cultural Diversity Awareness of Elementary School Teachers in Georgia Classrooms

This study determined the extent of cultural diversity awareness of in-service, elementary teachers in Georgia classrooms. The study also determined if different levels of cultural awareness existed between teacher groups in relation to their race/ethnicity, gender, level of education, number of years teaching experience, level of education, and exposure to or experience with multicultural education training. A group of 305 certified, in-service elementary school teachers completed the Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory, which assessed their beliefs about cultural diversity in five domains: general cultural awareness, culturally diverse families, cross-cultural communication, assessment, and creating a multicultural environment. Results indicated that elementary, in-service teachers are most culturally aware in domain one, general cultural awareness; they are least culturally aware in domain four, assessment. There was not a significant difference between teachers' extent of cultural diversity awareness in the five domains in regards to race, gender, level of education, years teaching experience, and exposure to or experience with multicultural education training. In-service, elementary teachers in Georgia, who are primarily monocultural, realize that the children they serve have cultures different from their own. Teachers understand the importance of identifying the ethnic groups of their students and their families, and they are comfortable in settings with people who exhibit values different from their own. Additionally, in-service, elementary teachers in Georgia classrooms believe in creating a multicultural learning environment in which family views are included in program planning, and they believe in making accommodations for different cultures and learning styles.

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education in Education Administration (Ed.D.)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation (open access)

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Department of Leadership, Technology, and Human Development

Year dc:date.available

2009

Author dc:creator

• Collins, Sohmer Evans

Contributors dc:contributor

• Barbara Mallory
• Mary Bennett

• ETD
• Cultural diversity awareness
• Multicultural education
• Cultural awareness
• Culturally diverse families
• Cross-cultural communication
• Assessment
• Multicultural environment
• Monocultural
• Elementary school teachers Georgia

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/220

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu:etd-1220