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exploratory study of the perceptions and experiences of selected educators on the infusion of multicultural education into the language arts curriculum in Broward County, Florida, public schools

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Date Issued:
1999
Summary:
The purpose of this study was to investigate and to explore the perceptions and experiences of selected educators on the infusion of multicultural education into the language arts curriculum in Broward County, Florida, Public Schools. This study also sought to discover the best practices of those language arts teachers who did infuse multicultural education into their curriculum. Little empirical data exists which elicits the views of language arts teachers about the infusion of multicultural education into the curriculum. Limited research on the middle school level is available. A qualitative single-case study design was used. The study was conducted at multiple sites; and the primary sources of data were interviews, document analyses, and researcher participant and nonparticipant observations. The sample of 48 participants was selected from 9 Broward County, Florida, Public Schools, including 6 middle schools. The sample included middle school language arts teachers, as well as principals, assistant principals, media specialists, teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), directors of multicultural education, and multicultural resource teachers. Based on the analysis of data, the perspectives and experiences of most teachers were multidimensional. Eight categories of findings relating to the perspectives of language arts teachers on the impact of multicultural education into the curriculum emerged: (a) multicultural education implementation; (b) the theoretical approaches used by language arts teachers to infuse multicultural education into the curriculum; (c) the impact of multicultural education on students, teachers, and the instructional process; (d) social and organizational factors that impact the infusion process; (e) the availability of resources, the authenticity of materials, and challenges encountered in the infusion process; (f) teacher needs; (g) the significance of the affective domain factors that teachers bring to the experience; (h) and standards and matrices. Overall, the participants in this study felt that the experience of teaching and learning from a multicultural perspective was enormously valuable to the self-concept, academic achievement, and the cultural appreciation among their students. The findings indicate that the curriculum that is presented or practiced is gradually moving beyond the lowest level of the additive approach toward a multicultural approach to infusion as suggested in the literature. Most practitioners are at Grant and Sleeter's (1999) single-group studies approach to multicultural education infusion which looks at the infusion of a single ethnic group.
Title: An exploratory study of the perceptions and experiences of selected educators on the infusion of multicultural education into the language arts curriculum in Broward County, Florida, public schools.
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Name(s): Lawrence, Audrey Elaine.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree grantor
Urich, Ted R., Thesis advisor
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 1999
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 277 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: The purpose of this study was to investigate and to explore the perceptions and experiences of selected educators on the infusion of multicultural education into the language arts curriculum in Broward County, Florida, Public Schools. This study also sought to discover the best practices of those language arts teachers who did infuse multicultural education into their curriculum. Little empirical data exists which elicits the views of language arts teachers about the infusion of multicultural education into the curriculum. Limited research on the middle school level is available. A qualitative single-case study design was used. The study was conducted at multiple sites; and the primary sources of data were interviews, document analyses, and researcher participant and nonparticipant observations. The sample of 48 participants was selected from 9 Broward County, Florida, Public Schools, including 6 middle schools. The sample included middle school language arts teachers, as well as principals, assistant principals, media specialists, teachers of English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), directors of multicultural education, and multicultural resource teachers. Based on the analysis of data, the perspectives and experiences of most teachers were multidimensional. Eight categories of findings relating to the perspectives of language arts teachers on the impact of multicultural education into the curriculum emerged: (a) multicultural education implementation; (b) the theoretical approaches used by language arts teachers to infuse multicultural education into the curriculum; (c) the impact of multicultural education on students, teachers, and the instructional process; (d) social and organizational factors that impact the infusion process; (e) the availability of resources, the authenticity of materials, and challenges encountered in the infusion process; (f) teacher needs; (g) the significance of the affective domain factors that teachers bring to the experience; (h) and standards and matrices. Overall, the participants in this study felt that the experience of teaching and learning from a multicultural perspective was enormously valuable to the self-concept, academic achievement, and the cultural appreciation among their students. The findings indicate that the curriculum that is presented or practiced is gradually moving beyond the lowest level of the additive approach toward a multicultural approach to infusion as suggested in the literature. Most practitioners are at Grant and Sleeter's (1999) single-group studies approach to multicultural education infusion which looks at the infusion of a single ethnic group.
Identifier: 9780599507104 (isbn), 12607 (digitool), FADT12607 (IID), fau:9491 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Thesis (Ed.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 1999.
College of Education
Subject(s): Language arts (Middle school)--Curricula
Multicultural education
Middle school teachers--Florida--Attitudes
Curriculum change
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fcla/dt/12607
Sublocation: Digital Library
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.