Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
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Ho-Kyung Huh
C K In s t r u c t io n a l D e v e lo p m e n t In s titu te ,
K o re a
K o re a
JuSung Jun
S o o n g s i i U n iv e r s it y ,
K o re a
Abstract
This study examined canonical correlation relationships between multicultural
sensitivity and level of multicultural education practice, and multicultural awareness
and level of multicultural education practice by primary and middle school teachers
in South Korea. Data was collected from 431 teachers in Seoul, Gyunggi, and Jeju.
Canonical correlation analysis was used to analyze data with SPSS 18.0 for
Windows. We found that teachers with higher interaction enjoyment, interaction
confidence, interaction attentiveness, and interaction engagement have a higher level
of understanding and resourcefulness; and teachers with higher multicultural
understanding, appreciation of foreign culture, anti-bias perception, and perception
of the teacher's role have a higher level of application of understanding, level of
implementation in class, and level of resource usage.
Keywords:
KEDI Journal of Educational P o lic y-IS S N 1739^4341 Korean Educational Development Institute 2015, Electronic version: http://eng.kedi.re.kr
In t r o d u c t io n
More multicultural families in South Korea are establishing themselves as
members of society, through education, immigration, and business. Of the increasing
number of multicultural children, there are 67,806 multicultural students who attend
school. 71.2% (48,297 out of 67,806) are students in elementary school, 18.5% (12,525
out of 67,806) in middle school, and 10.3% (6,984 out of 67,806) in high school
(Ministry of Education, 2014). Children confront new issues on a personal level as a
multicultural child and on a domestic level as part of a multicultural family. Problems
that arise in an educational environment require practical solutions. Therefore, a
holistic education suitable for multicultural and non-multicultural children benefits
modern society.
Increasing multicultural sensitivity through education is crucial (Jang & Kim,
2012). The role of teachers is important, as they must examine their emotions,
knowledge, and attitude of others (Seefelt, 2001). To successfully foster multicultural
education, a teacher must accept dissimilarities of cultures and be sensitive to
cultural differences (Bennett, 2003). A teacher with multicultural sensitivity shows a
high level of teaching efficacy (Villegas & Lucas, 2002) and is flexible in utilizing a
range of verbal and non-verbal facial expressions, attitudes, and actions, depending
on the situation (Y. Kim & Woo, 2011). It was found that the most direct influence
on multicultural education competence is an awareness of multicultural education
(Glockshuber, 2005; Holcomb-McCoy & Myers, 1999). Teacher awareness affects the
overall educational environment and course (Knopp & Smith, 2005). Multicultural
education is applying the student's cultural, societal, economical, and ethnic
background to education and injecting multicultural awareness, where the principal
agent for this process is teachers (Sleeter & Grant, 2008). Multicultural training for
teachers is a starting point for multicultural awareness and a requirement for the
discovery of opportunities in applying consistent multicultural education (Yoon,
2011). Effective teachers are those with high cultural sensitivity.
The relationship between multicultural sensitivity of teachers and their
multicultural education awareness and the level of multicultural educational practice
is a core area in educational research. However, studies so far have primarily
focused on preschoolers' teachers (Jeong, 2012; K. Lee, 2011; M. Park, 2012; Sung,
2010). Those studies conducted on elementary and middle school teachers were
mostly simple studies with a limited scope of issues, such as the awareness of
multicultural families, the status of multicultural education, the attitude of
multicultural education, teaching efficacy of multicultural education, etc. (O. Kim &
Jun, 2009; S. Kim & Kim, 2008; S. Park & Seong, 2011; Yoo, 2011).
The number of students from multicultural families is rapidly increasing in
Korea. They not only struggle with identity problems but also experience overall
difficulties at school such as academic works and a relationship with their friends
and teachers at school. Moreover, they take these problems with them when they
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graduate from school and enter the real world, where a new set of unanticipated
problems await. Therefore, it is crucial to provide elementary and middle school
teachers with the trainings and tools to enhance their skills in providing
multicultural education to all students within a regular educational curriculum.
However, in reality, multicultural education is not being implemented at a sufficient
level (S. Kim, 2010).
Therefore, this research examines the relationship between multicultural sensitivity
of teachers and their multicultural education awareness and the level of multicultural
education practice. The research is expected to improve the overall level of
multicultural education practice by enhancing multicultural sensitivity of teachers
and their multicultural education awareness. It will also provide a direction for
teachers in actual educational environments by suggesting methods that can help
them provide more effective multicultural education.
Literature review
Multicultural education
Culture is defined as a "totality of all abilities and conventions acquired by
members of society such as knowledge, religion, art, social institutions, morality,
cultural traditions, etc." and includes a range of diversities among individuals and
groups (Tyler, 1871 as cited in Koo, Park, & Seol, 2009, p. 12). Therefore, a meeting
of different cultures is accompanied by conflicts that arise from their exchange,
conflict and propagation. Based on this definition of "culture," "multi-culture" is
explained as a culture that arises from blending of different race, gender, culture,
religion, and behavior/lifestyles.
Multicultural phenomena have appeared for different reasons and in different
ways for different regions and nations. Table 1 presents different definitions of
multicultural education.
In sum, multicultural education starts with education for the majority but is an
education that is needed for both the majority and minority (Jang & Kim, 2012). It
is also an education that allows both multicultural and non-multicultural families to
remove their cultural biases and stereotypes, recognize and acknowledge diversities
that arise from differences in income, social class, gender, disability, religion, and
especially nationality and ethnicity (race) and embrace them. Therefore, through
multicultural education, students should learn how to understand and respect
different cultures and put them into practice.
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D efinition
G ay (2000)
B ennett (2003)
N ieto (2004)
B anks (2007)
C am pbell (2010)
Provide education not only for m ajority but also m inority social
groups w ith the aim o f p roviding educational equality for all
m inority social groups.
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Multicultural sensitivity
Multicultural understanding is not limited to reducing racial and cultural
prejudice. It includes an agreement between one's own culture and of others, gender
and class issues, and minority rights. Therefore, developing multicultural sensitivity
that eliminates cultural prejudice, as well as fosters an interest in learning about and
experiencing dissimilar cultures, is important in supplementing the limitations of
current multicultural policies (S. Lee & Kim, 2012).
Chen and Starosta (2000) defined intercultural (or multicultural) sensitivity as an
emotional aspect of communication, a quality that appreciates the differences
between cultures and leads to appropriate behavior in a multicultural environment. An
individual with better intercultural sensitivity has high self-esteem, is open-minded,
can empathize, and be interactively engaged. These individuals can appropriately
apply effective behavior and attempt to understand and empathize before making
decisions when interacting with people of different cultures. People with a higher
level of multicultural sensitivity show more appreciation for cultural diversity. They
can differentiate the practices, emotions, and understanding between their own
cultural group and others (O. Kim & Jun, 2009). Teachers with greater multicultural
sensitivity have reciprocal relationships by positively influencing others and receiving
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difficult to determine if teachers are equipped with these skills (N. Park, 2007). To
effectively implement multicultural education, a teacher needs an educational
environment that complements this purpose. To teach culturally sensitive courses, a
teacher must be provided proper training on multicultural competence.
Method
P a rtic ip a n ts
In s tru m e n ts
M u ltic u ltu r a l s e n s itiv ity scale
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Percentage
M ale
( )
82
19.0
F em ale
349
81.0
V ariables
G ender
A ge
G roup
(% )
20-30
68
15.9
31-40
146
33.8
41-50
123
28.6
92
21.3
0.5
51N o response
-1
1-10 below
22
5.1
153
35.5
T eaching experience
10-20 below
108
25.1
(year)
20-30 below
107
24.8
35
8.1
30N o response
W orking place
School location
1.4
276
64.0
M iddle school
155
36
Seoul
206
47.8
G yung-gi
113
26.2
Jeju
112
26.0
T otal
431
100
were modified and finalized after review by four doctors of lifelong education, one
doctor of pedagogical sciences, and one student completing his/her doctorate degree.
An exploratory factor analysis was then conducted on data collected, checking five
components [interaction confidence (Cronbach's a = .84), respect for cultural differences
(Cronbach's a = .91), interaction enjoyment (Cronbach's a = .78), interaction
attentiveness (Cronbach's a = .51), and interaction engagement (Cronbach's a = .79)]
consisting of 20 questions (e.g., 1 enjoy interacting with people from different
cultures; I respect the values of people from different cultures; I feel confident when
interacting with people from different cultures). All items were formatted with
5-point Likert scales (5-strongly agree, 4-agree, 3-neither agree nor disagree, 2disagree, 1-strongly disagree). The resulting Cronbach's a was .89 for the 20 items.
M u ltic u ltu r a l e d u c a tio n a w a re n e s s s cale
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Data analysis
SPSS 18.0 was used for analyses of items. Cronbach's a was computed to check
internal consistency. A simple correlation analysis and canonical correlation analysis
were used to examine the relationship between multicultural sensitivity, perception
of multicultural education, and level of practice.
Findings
Simple correlation analysis
Table 3 shows results of a simple correlation analysis examining the relationships
between multicultural sensitivity, awareness of multicultural education, and level of
multicultural education practice.
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P e rc e p tio n in
a te a c h e r s ro le
R e s p e c t fo r
o th e r c u ltu r e s
A w a ren ess o f
a n ti-b ia s
I m p le m e n ta tio n
in c la s s
p r a c tic e le v e l
.400"
A p p lic a tio n o f
u n d e r s ta n d in g
R eso u rce u sag e
10
11
12
engagem ent
M u lti-c u ltu ra l
e d u c a tio n
.676" .534"
U n d e r s ta n d in g o f
M u lti-c u ltu ra l
I n te ra c tio n e n jo y m e n t
I n te ra c tio n
e d u c a tio n
aw aren e ss
1
1
.295" .294" .431" .346" .296" .532" .385" .518" .392" .757
.347" .135" .386" .248" .246" .252" .296" .249" .315" .693" .573"
Table 4 and Table 5 show the results of canonical correlation analysis between
multicultural sensitivity and level of multicultural education practice. Canonical
correlation analysis is a multivariate statistical model used to examine relationships
between multiple dependent variables and multiple independent variables; it can
simultaneously predict multiple dependent variables from multiple independent
variables.
The results of analyses produced three correlation functions. However, taking
into consideration the correlation coefficient and Wilk's lambada, only correlation
function I (Rc = .511) was significant and explained the 26.1% variance between the
two variables (p < .001). Only correlation function I will be examined as the level
of statistically significant correlation function II at .934 is close to 1 and lacks
sufficient evidence to accept the alternative hypothesis that it can form another linear
combination.
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Table 4. Canonical co rre la tio n analysis betw een m u ltic u ltu ra l sensitivity and level o f
m u lticu ltu ra l e d u ca tio n practice
C ovariate
C ovariate II
C ovariate HI
Rc
.511
.237
.104
R c2
.261
.056
.011
.690
.934
.989
df
15
.000
.000
.203
V ariables
M ulticulturaleducation
practice level
M ulticultural
sensitivity
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S tandardized
coefficient o f
variates
C anonical
loading
C anonical
cro ss
loading
.335
.915
.467
Application o f understanding
.481
.913
.466
R esource usage
.311
.819
.418
Interaction confidence
.193
.723
.369
.256
-.063
.501
.557
.908
.464
Interaction attention
.281
.684
.349
.304
.636
.325
Rc
.511
R c2
.261
E igen value
.353
.000
between two variables, a canonical cross-loading was conducted with a cut-off value
set at .30 (Tabachnick & Fidell, 2000). With cross-loadings of dependent variables,
'level of application of understanding ( .466),' 'level of implementation in class
( .467)/ and 'level of resource usage ( .418)' were significant. For independent
variables, 'interaction enjoyment ( .464),' 'interaction confidence ( .369),' 'interaction
attentiveness ( .349),' and 'interaction engagement ( .325)' were significant.
From correlation function I, teachers who have higher interaction enjoyment,
interaction confidence, interaction attentiveness, and interaction engagement have a
higher level of application of understanding and resource usage. For the optimal
practice of multicultural education, it is important to increase multicultural
sensitivity of teachers.
A n a ly s is b e tw e e n m u ltic u ltu ra l e d u c a tio n a w a re n e s s a n d m u ltic u ltu ra l e d u c a tio n
p ra c tic e le v e l
Table 6 and Table 7 show results from a canonical correlation analysis between
awareness of multicultural education and level of multicultural education practice.
Results of this analysis produced three correlation functions (see Table 4). However,
taking into consideration the correlation coefficient and Wilk's lambada, only
correlation function I (Rc = .583) was significant and explains 34% of the variance
between the two variables (p < .001). Only correlation function I will be examined,
as the level of statistically significant correlation function II at 0.934 is close to 1 and
lacks sufficient evidence to accept the alternative hypothesis that it can form another
linear combination. The most important dependent variable in forming correlation
function I is the 'level of application of understanding (1.015).' The importance of
'level of resource usage (-0.075)' and 'level of implementation in class ( .350)' was
relatively low. Of the independent variables, the most important were 'multicultural
understanding ( .489)' and 'appreciation of foreign culture ( .425)'; 'the importance
of 'anti-bias perception ( .187)' and 'perception of teacher's role ( .076)' were
relatively low. Canonical cross-loading was conducted to examine the relative effects
of individual variables that affect the relationship between two variables. With
cross-loadings of the dependent variables, 'level of application of understanding (
.583),' 'level of implementation in class ( .439),' and 'level of resource usage ( .310)'
were significant. Of the independent variables, 'multicultural understanding ( .535),'
'appreciation of foreign culture ( .519),' 'anti-bias perception ( .387),' and 'perception
of the teacher's role ( .380)' were significant.
From correlation function I, teachers who have a higher multicultural
understanding, appreciation of foreign culture, anti-bias perception, and perception
of the teacher's role have a higher level of application of understanding, level of
implementation in class, and level of resource usage. Therefore, it is important to
increase multicultural education awareness of teachers for the optimal practice of
multicultural education.
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C ovariate II
Co variate III
Rc
.583
.243
.088
R c2
.340
.058
.008
.616
.934
.992
df
12
.000
.000
.190
V ariables
M ulticulturaleducation
practice level
M ulticulturalaw areness
Standardized
coefficient o f
variates
C anonical
leading
C anonical
cross-loadin
g
.035
.752
.439
A pplication o f understanding
1.015
.999
.583
R esource usage
-.075
.532
.310
Understanding o f m ulticulturalism
.489
.917
.535
.076
.652
.380
.425
.890
.519
A nti-bias aw areness
.187
.663
.387
Rc
.583
R c2
.340
E igen value
.353
.000
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A d d re s s fo r c o rre s p o n d e n c e
JuSung Jun
Associate Professor
Department of Lifelong Education
Soongsil University
369 Sangdo-Ro, Dongjak-Gu
Seoul, 156-743, Korea
Email: jnet@ssu.ac.kr
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