Elementary school teachers' perceptions of multicultural education.

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

This study examined elementary school teachers' perceptions of multicultural education. The sample for the study consisted of 63 elementary school teachers in an urban school system in the South.
The subjects completed a Multicultural Attitude Survey that consisted of nineteen statements scored on a Likert scale, one multiple-choice question about the teachers' perceived levels of implementation of multicultural education, and a form which requested demographic information about each subject.
The results of this study were based on 63 teachers' perceptions of multicultural education, and their perceptions of the level at which they implemented multicultural education. The results indicated that there were no significant relationships between teachers' perceptions and the diversity of their classes, their ages, years of teaching experience, gender, or ethnic backgrounds. In addition, there was no significant relationship between teachers' perceptions and the level at which they perceived that they implemented multicultural education. Pearson r and Spearman rho correlations were used to analyze data.
Although there were no significant relationships found, the scores on the teachers' perceptions survey indicated that all subjects in this study possessed a positive perception of multicultural education. The majority of subjects also implemented multicultural education at Banks' two lowest levels of integration of ethnic content. Those two levels are the Contributions Approach where the teacher focuses on heroes and holidays, and the Additive Approach where the teacher adds a book or unit to the curriculum without changing the structure of the curriculum.