Teachers' beliefs about diversity: an analysis from a personal and professional perspective

  1. Chiner Sanz, Esther
  2. Cardona Moltó, María Cristina
  3. Gómez Puerta, Marcos
Journal:
NAER: Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research

ISSN: 2254-7339

Year of publication: 2015

Volume: 4

Issue: 1

Pages: 18-23

Type: Article

DOI: 10.7821/NAER.2015.1.113 DIALNET GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openDialnet editor

More publications in: NAER: Journal of New Approaches in Educational Research

Sustainable development goals

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the beliefs that teachers have about diversity and their level of sensitivity towards some topics related to it. Moreover, beliefs were compared according to teachers' personal and professional views and teaching experience. The Personal and Professional Beliefs about Diversity Scales (Pohan and Aguilar, 1999) were administered to a sample of 233 teachers. Results showed highly positive beliefs towards diversity in all its dimensions (cultural, linguistic and social diversity, ability, gender, sexual orientation and religion), especially regarding its personal implications compared to the professional ones. Likewise, it was observed a significant relationship between years of teaching experience and professional beliefs about diversity, so teachers with no school experience showed a higher tolerance than those with teaching experience, mainly in aspects related to cultural, linguistic and social differences, ability and gender. The implications that these results have for educational practice and the need for the development of multicultural education courses that favour an effective teaching are discussed.

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