Enjoying Cultural Differences Assists Teachers in Learning about Diversity and Equality. An Evaluation of Antidiscrimination and Diversity Training
Keywords:
Early childhood, Diversity, Equality, Discrimination
Abstract
The present study is based on a quasi-experimental research design and presents the results of an evaluation of Antidiscrimination and Diversity Training that took place at the Faculty of Education in Ljubljana, rooted in the anti-bias approach to educating diversity and equality issues (Murray & Urban, 2012). The experimental group included 52 in-service early childhood teachers attending the training, which consisted of a total of 120 hours. There was also a control group comprising 130 teachers. The ADT had a decisive impact on all of the measured variables: on an improvement in the participants’ knowledge of discrimination, and on increased support for positive measures and for the preservation of the cultural traditions and language of immigrant children. It was found that self-assessed personality characteristics are predictors of the teachers’ beliefs, especially the enjoying awareness of cultural differences variable, which correlates with all of the dependent variables.
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References
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PeÄek ÄŒuk, M., & Lesar, I. (2008). Teachers’ perceptions of the inclusion of marginalised groups. Educational Studies, 34(3), 225–239.
PeÄek, M., & Macura-Milovanović, S. (2012). Who is responsible for vulnerable pupils? The attitudes of teacher candidates in Serbia and Slovenia. European Journal of Teacher Education, 35(3), 327–346.
Ruhm, C. J., & Waldfogel, J. (2011). Long-term effects of early childhood care and education. Institute for the Study of Labor. IZA Discussion Paper No. 6149. Retrieved July 3 2013 from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1968100
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Tajfel, H. (1978). Introducing social psychology. London: Penguin Books.
Thomas, K. M., & Chrobot-Mason, D. (2005). Group-level explanations of workplace discrimination. In R. L. Dipboye & A. Colella (Eds.), Discrimination at work: The psychological and organisational bases (pp. 63–88). London: LEA.
TurnÅ¡ek, N., & BatistiÄ-Zorec, M. (2009). Early childhood education and care in Europe: Tackling social and cultural inequality: Slovenia. Brussels: EACEA. Retrieved July 3 2013 from http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about/eurydice/documents/098_en_v2.pdf
Turnšek, N., & Pekkarinen, A. (2009). Democratisation of early childhood education in the attitudes of Slovene and Finnish teachers. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 17(1), 23–42.
Ule, M. (2004). Socialna psihologija [Social psychology]. Ljubljana: Faculty of Social Sciences.
Van Dijk, T. A. (2005). Elite discourse and institutional racism. Retrieved July 3 2013 from http://www.discourses.org/UnpublishedArticles/Elite%20discourse%20and%20institutional%20racism.html
Ainscow, M., & Sandill, A. (2010). Developing inclusive education systems: The role of organisational cultures and leadership. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(4), 401–416.
Apple, M. W. (1982). Education and power. Boston: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Augoustinos, M., & Walker, I. (1995). Social cognition. London: Sage.
Bennett, J. (2008). Early childhood services in the OECD countries: A review of the literature and of current policy in the early childhood field, Innocenti Working Paper No. 2008-01. Florence: UNICEF, Innocenti Research Centre.
Berger, L. M., Paxson, C., & Waldfogel, J. (2009). Income and child development. Children and Youth Services Review, 31(9), 978–989.
Boal, A. (2000). Theater of the oppressed. London: Pluto Press.
Clements, P., & Jones, J. (2006). The diversity training handbook. London: Kogan Page.
Dekleva, B., & Razpotnik, Š. (2002). Čefurji so bili rojeni tu: življenje mladih priseljencev druge generacije v Ljubljani. [Chefurs were Born Here: The Life of Second-Generation Young Migrants in Ljubljana]. Ljubljana: Faculty of Education, Institute for Criminology at the Faculty of Law.
Dodatek h Kurikulu za vrtce za otroke Romov. [Supplement to the curriculum for educational work with Roma children]. (2002). Ljubljana: Ministry of Education and Sport. Retrieved July 3 2013 from http://www.mss.gov.si/ fileadmin/mss.gov.si/pageuploads/podrocje/vrtci/pdf/vrtci_Dodatek_-_ROMI.pdf
Eurydice 2009. Tackling social and cultural inequalities through early childhood education and care in Europe. Brussels: EACEA
Flere, S. (2005). Social inequity and educational expansion in Slovenia. Educational Studies, 31(4), 449–464.
Florian, L., & Kershner, R. (2009). Inclusive pedagogy. In H. Daniels, J. Porter, & H. Lauder, (Eds.), Knowledge, values and educational policy: A critical perspective (pp. 173–183). London: Routledge.
Gaber, S., & Marjanovic Umek, L. (2009). Å tudije (primerjalne) neenakosti. Znanstvena poroÄila PedagoÅ¡kega inÅ¡tituta 21/09. [Studies of (comparative) inequality. Scientific reports of the
Educational Research Institute of 21/09]. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute.
Hall, S. (2007). Who needs “identity� In P. Du Gay, J. Evans, & P. Redman (Eds.), Identity: A reader (pp. 15–30). London: SAGE.
Heckman, J. J. (2011). The economics of inequality: The value of early childhood education. American Educator, 35(1) 31–35.
Kaikkonen, L. (2010). Promoting teacher development for diversity. In R. Rose (Ed.), Confronting obstacles to inclusion: International responses to developing inclusive education (pp. 1-6). Abingdon: Routledge.
KirbiÅ¡, A., Flere, S., & TavÄar Krajnc, M. (2012). Netolerantnost v Sloveniji in Evropi: primerjalna longitudinalna analiza. [Intolerance in Slovenia and Europe: A comparative longitudinal analysis]. Družboslovne razprave, XXVIII(70), 27–50.
KlopÄiÄ, V., & Polzer, M. (2003). Evropa, Slovenija in Romi. [Europe, Slovenia and Roma]. Retrieved July 3 2013 from http://www.inv.si/DocDir/PublikacijePDF/2003/evropa,%20slovenija%20in%20romi_optimized.pdf
Kozleski, E. B., & Waitoller, F. (2010). Teacher learning for inclusive education: Understanding teaching as a cultural and political practice. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 14(7),
655–666.
Krek, J., & Metljak, M. (Eds.) (2011). Bela knjiga o vzgoji in izobraževanju v Republiki Sloveniji 2011. [White Paper on Education in the Republic of Slovenia 2011]. Ljubljana: Educational Research Institute.
Mac Naughton, G. (2003). Shaping early childhood: Learners, curriculum and contexts. Berkshire: Open University Press.
Macura-Milovanović, S. (2006). Socijalni aspekt inkluzije romske dece iz naselja Deponija u obrazovni sistem. [Social aspect of the inclusion of Roma children from the Deponija settlement into the education system]. Pedagogija, LXI(3), 304–320.
Manual for Trainers – Workshops to Counteract Discrimination. (2006). Ljubljana: ZARA.
Mezzirow, J. (1990). Fostering critical reflection in adulthood: A guide to transformative and emancipator learning. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
Murray, C., & Urban, M. (2012). Diversity and equality in early childhood: An Irish perspective. Dublin: Gill & Macmillan.
PeÄek, M., & Lesar, I. (2006). PraviÄnost slovenske Å¡ole: Mit ali realnost [Justice of the Slovenian school: Myth or reality?]. Ljubljana: Sophia.
PeÄek ÄŒuk, M., & Lesar, I. (2008). Teachers’ perceptions of the inclusion of marginalised groups. Educational Studies, 34(3), 225–239.
PeÄek, M., & Macura-Milovanović, S. (2012). Who is responsible for vulnerable pupils? The attitudes of teacher candidates in Serbia and Slovenia. European Journal of Teacher Education, 35(3), 327–346.
Ruhm, C. J., & Waldfogel, J. (2011). Long-term effects of early childhood care and education. Institute for the Study of Labor. IZA Discussion Paper No. 6149. Retrieved July 3 2013 from http://ssrn.com/abstract=1968100
Smernice za vkljuÄevanje otrok priseljencev v vrtce in Å¡ole. [Guidelines for the integration of immigrant children in preschools and schools]. (2011). Ljubljana: Institute of RS for Education and Sport. Retrieved July 3 2013 from http:// www.zrss.si/pdf/250811092039_smernice_-dopolnitev.pdf
Strategija vzgoje in izobraževanja Romov v Republiki Sloveniji. [Strategy of Education and Training of Roma Children in the Republic of Slovenia]. (2004). Retrieved July 3 2013 from www.mizks.gov.s/fileadmin/mizks.../0721_- strategija Romi.doc
Strategija vzgoje in izobraževanja Romov v Republiki Sloveniji. [Strategy of Education and Training of Roma Children in the Republic of Slovenia]. (2011). Retrieved July 3 2013 from http:// www.mss.gov.si/fileadmin/mss.gov.si/pageuploads/podrocje/razvoj_solstva/projekti/Strategija_Romi_dopolnitev_2011.pdf
Strategija vkljuÄevanja otrok, uÄencev in dijakov migrantov v sistem vzgoje in izobraževanja v Republiki Sloveniji. [National strategy for the social inclusion of migrant children and youth into the education system in the Republic of Slovenia]. (2007). Ljubljana: Ministry of Education and Sport.
Tajfel, H. (1978). Introducing social psychology. London: Penguin Books.
Thomas, K. M., & Chrobot-Mason, D. (2005). Group-level explanations of workplace discrimination. In R. L. Dipboye & A. Colella (Eds.), Discrimination at work: The psychological and organisational bases (pp. 63–88). London: LEA.
TurnÅ¡ek, N., & BatistiÄ-Zorec, M. (2009). Early childhood education and care in Europe: Tackling social and cultural inequality: Slovenia. Brussels: EACEA. Retrieved July 3 2013 from http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/about/eurydice/documents/098_en_v2.pdf
Turnšek, N., & Pekkarinen, A. (2009). Democratisation of early childhood education in the attitudes of Slovene and Finnish teachers. European Early Childhood Education Research Journal, 17(1), 23–42.
Ule, M. (2004). Socialna psihologija [Social psychology]. Ljubljana: Faculty of Social Sciences.
Van Dijk, T. A. (2005). Elite discourse and institutional racism. Retrieved July 3 2013 from http://www.discourses.org/UnpublishedArticles/Elite%20discourse%20and%20institutional%20racism.html
Published
2013-12-31
How to Cite
Turnšek, N. (2013). Enjoying Cultural Differences Assists Teachers in Learning about Diversity and Equality. An Evaluation of Antidiscrimination and Diversity Training. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 3(4), 117-138. https://doi.org/10.26529/cepsj.226
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