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Emerging voices of multicultural educators: A qualitative study exploring the experiences of seven exceptional teachers
Abstract
This study explored the experiences of seven K-12 teachers in Nebraska perceived as exceptional multicultural educators. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand the meaning of teacher's experiences and to inform professional educators about multicultural growth and development. Teachers represented diverse ethnic identities, contextual elements, teaching content areas, individual developmental levels of multicultural understanding, and lived in five diverse geographic locations in Nebraska. The findings of the study provided insight about the integrated nature of teachers' lives, the meaning of multicultural knowledge, the developmental process of cultural understanding, and the transfer of cultural experiences to instructional practice. Findings suggested that teachers' demonstrated a range of understanding and responsiveness to the Nebraska Multicultural Education Act established in 1992. Teachers indicated that the cultural context of their lives and the perceived needs of students and communities influenced their perceptions about multicultural teaching and learning. Four domains emerged from in-depth interviews. Teachers were culturally conscious learners. Development was influenced by their intentional cultural choices. Classroom activity and instructional design was based on a philosophy of social justice. Multicultural teachers were leaders and advocates for multicultural education reform which provided direction for their personal and professional goals. A cultural teaching and learning paradigm emerged from the essence of the study which guided teachers' philosophy and instructional practices. The seven components of the paradigm included: cultivating a mission of care; social justice as ethical and moral teaching; building relationships; language and communication; content knowledge and teaching multiple truths; experiential and practical learning; and leadership integrity. The strength of the paradigm is its usefulness and adaptability across content and levels of learning. The paradigm is driven by a constructivist and experiential approach to learning for both students and teachers. In summary, multicultural educators were culturally conscious persons who developed meaning constructs by making connections among lived and learned cultural experiences, life transitions, and social justice issues. Teachers were able to critically reflect on the meaning of their cultural experiences surrounding the process of developing and implementing relevant cultural knowledge to multicultural classroom practices. Exceptional multicultural teachers ultimately provided leadership for other educators through support networks and collaboration.
Subject Area
Curricula|Teaching|Bilingual education|Multicultural education|Adult education|Continuing education
Recommended Citation
Miller, Kristen L. Jane, "Emerging voices of multicultural educators: A qualitative study exploring the experiences of seven exceptional teachers" (1998). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9829529.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9829529