Between Openness and Resistance: The Role of Ethnicity in Shaping Turkish Pre-Service Teachers' Multicultural Attitudes

Hasene Durgut

doi:10.66815/ejecs/2909

Authors

Hasene Durgut Eötvös Lorand University https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0154-6198

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.66815/ejecs/2909

Keywords:

multicultural attitudes, pre-service teachers, ethnic positionality, measurement invariance, teacher education, Turkey, social identity theory, culturally responsive pedagogy

Abstract

Teacher education in ethnically diverse yet politically sensitive contexts require understanding how majority and minoritized positionalities shape orientations toward cultural pluralism. In Turkey, where a centralized national curriculum, longstanding ethnic diversity, and over 3.2 million Syrian refugees intersect, pre-service teachers from distinct ethnocultural backgrounds navigate different relationships to diversity. Yet no published study has systematically compared multicultural attitudes among Turkish, Kurdish, and Syrian teacher candidates within the same institutional setting. This study addresses that gap by examining multicultural attitudes, resistance to multiculturalism, and perceived multicultural teaching competence across these three groups (N = 302) using the Turkish adaptation of the Teachers' Multicultural Attitudes Scale. Grounded in critical multiculturalism's proposition that majority and minoritized groups interpret diversity-related constructs through different sociopolitical lenses, the study anticipated that measurement invariance would not hold across ethnic groups. Confirmatory factor analysis and multi-group measurement invariance testing were consistent with this expectation; neither metric nor scalar invariance was established, supporting the argument that ethnocultural positioning shapes differential interpretation of these constructs. One-way ANOVAs with Bonferroni corrections revealed large effect sizes for resistance (η² = .32) and teaching competence (η² = .27), with Turkish participants exhibiting significantly higher resistance and lower sensitivity than Kurdish and Syrian peers. Multiple regression identified ethnicity as the dominant predictor of resistance (β = −.586, R² = .369), with gender and religiosity as secondary contributors. Across all analyses, ethnic positionality emerged as the primary determinant of multicultural orientations, with Kurdish and Syrian candidates showing more favorable attitudes than Turkish peers.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

👁 Abstract Views: 338📥 PDF Downloads: 36

Author Biography

Hasene Durgut, Eötvös Lorand University

is a PhD candidate in the Culture, Diversity and Education program at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary, supervised by Professor Ágnes Boreczky. She holds a BA in English Language Teaching, an MA in Educational Management from Sakarya University, and an MA in Social Integration from Eötvös Loránd University. She works as an English teacher at the Ministry of National Education, Turkey. Her research interests include multicultural education, ethnic positionality, teacher education, and psychometric scale adaptation in culturally diverse contexts. For further inquiries, she can be reached at hasene1881@gmail.com.

References

Alanay, H., & Aydin, H. (2016). Multicultural education: The challenges and attitudes of undergraduate students in Turkey. Education and Science, 41(184), 169–191. https://doi.org/10.15390/EB.2016.6146 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15390/EB.2016.6146

Allport, G. W. (1954). The nature of prejudice. Addison-Wesley.

Apple, M. W. (2004). Ideology and curriculum (3rd ed.). RoutledgeFalmer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203487563

Arslan-Cansever, B., Kılıç, Z., & Başbakkal, Z. (2022). Pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards multicultural education and the role of practicum experience. Educational Policy Analysis and Strategic Research, 17(2), 138–160. https://doi.org/10.29329/epasr.2022.454.8

Banks, J. A. (2008). An introduction to multicultural education (4th ed.). Pearson Education.

Carlucci, A. F. (2022). Minorities and diasporas in Turkey: Public images and issues in education. In F. Bertuccelli, M. Gavrila, & F. L. Grassi (Eds.), Occhialì: Rivista sul Mediterraneo Islamico (Vol. 11, pp. 52–55).

Damgacı, F., & Aydın, H. (2013). Akademisyenlerin çokkültürlü eğitime ilişkin tutumları [Attitudes of academicians towards multicultural education]. Elektronik Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 12(45), 325–341.

Dashyan, A. V., & Kudelin, A. B. (2020). The ethnic minority policy of Turkey. RUDN Journal of World History, 12(3), 274–285. https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-8127-2020-12-3-274-285 DOI: https://doi.org/10.22363/2312-8127-2020-12-3-274-285

Dolapçı, E., & Kavgacı, H. (2020). Öğretmenlerin çok kültürlü özyeterlik algısı ve okul iklimi ile mülteci öğrencilere yönelik tutumları arasındaki ilişkilerin incelenmesi [Examination of relationships among teachers’ multicultural self-efficacy, school climate, and attitudes towards refugee students]. Marmara Üniversitesi Atatürk Eğitim Fakültesi Eğitim Bilimleri Dergisi, 52, 687–707. https://doi.org/10.15285/maruaebd.669692 DOI: https://doi.org/10.15285/maruaebd.669692

Fairclough, N. (2008). A dialectical-relational approach to critical discourse analysis in social research. In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse analysis (2nd ed., pp. 162–186). Sage.

Gay, G. (2018). Culturally responsive teaching: Theory, research, and practice (3rd ed.). Teachers College Press.

Gorski, P. C. (2016). Rethinking the role of “culture” in educational equity: From cultural competence to equity literacy. Multicultural Perspectives, 18(4), 221–226. https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2016.1228344 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15210960.2016.1228344

Houston, C. (2008). Kurdish life in contemporary Turkey: Migration, gender and ethnic identity. I.B. Tauris.

Kaplan, S. (2006). The pedagogical state: Education and the politics of national culture in post-1980 Turkey. Stanford University Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9781503626089

Kılınç, R., Neathery-Castro, J., & Akyüz, S. (2017). Ethnic conflict and gender inequality in education: The case of Turkey. Turkish Studies. https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2017.1392860 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/14683849.2017.1392860

Mitropoulo, V., Rantzou, M., & Anagnostopoulou, M. (2014). Intercultural EducatıonIn the çivil educatıon in the currıcula of the Greek School (Elementary-High School). Asian Journal of Instruction, 2(1(ÖZEL)), 198-206. https://doi.org/10.20897/apjes/16954 DOI: https://doi.org/10.20897/apjes/16954

Oran, B. (2021). Minorities in Turkey I: Law and reform. TESEV Publications. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33182/tc.v1i1.1996

Özdemir, Y., & Güven, İ. (2019). Pre-service teachers’ attitudes toward multicultural education in Turkey: The influence of gender and socio-economic background. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice, 19(2), 35–53.

Özdemir, Y., Buyruk, H., & Güngör, S. (2018). Öğretmen adaylarının eleştirel düşünme eğilimi ile liderlik yönelimleri arasındaki ilişki [The relationship between teacher candidates’ critical thinking tendency and leadership orientations]. Mersin Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 14(2), 548–571. https://doi.org/10.17860/mersinefd.434785 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17860/mersinefd.434785

Pettigrew, T. F., & Tropp, L. R. (2006). A meta-analytic test of intergroup contact theory. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 90, 751–783. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.751 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.90.5.751

Polat, S., & Metin, N. (2012). The relationship between pre-service teachers’ multicultural education perceptions and their self-efficacy beliefs. Education and Science, 37(164), 199–212.

Sakız, H., Ekinci, A., & Baş, G. (2020). Inclusive education for religious minorities: The Syriacs in Turkey. Social Inclusion, 8(3), 296–306. https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v8i3.3073 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17645/si.v8i3.3073

Santoro, N. (2007). ‘Outsiders’ and ‘others’: ‘Different’ teachers teaching in culturally diverse classrooms. Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, 13(1), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600601106104 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/13540600601106104

Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi-experimental designs for generalized causal inference. Houghton Mifflin.

Sleeter, C. E. (2018). Multicultural education past, present, and future: Struggles for dialog and power-sharing. International Journal of Multicultural Education, 20(1), 5–20. https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v20i1.1663 DOI: https://doi.org/10.18251/ijme.v20i1.1663

Tajfel, H., & Turner, J. C. (1986). The social identity theory of intergroup behavior. In S. Worchel & W. G. Austin (Eds.), Psychology of intergroup relations (pp. 7–24). Hall Publishers.

Talleyrand, R., Gill Bailey, C., Saldana, M., Tran, J. T., & Li, Z. (2022). Exploring Migration Experiences of Undocumented Latinx Youth Through A Qualitative Lens: Implications for Mental Health Provide. American Journal of Qualitative Research, 6(3), 269-286. https://doi.org/10.29333/ajqr/12654

Turkish Higher Education Quality Council [YÖK]. (2023). Higher education evaluation and quality assurance status report. Turkish Higher Education Quality Council. https://yokak.gov.tr/

Türkiye Cumhuriyeti Anayasası [Constitution of the Republic of Turkey]. (1982). https://www.anayasa.gov.tr/tr/mevzuat/anayasa/

Üstel, F. (2004). Makbul vatandaşın peşinde: II. Meşrutiyet’ten bugüne vatandaşlık eğitimi [In pursuit of the ideal citizen: Citizenship education from the Second Constitutional Era to the present]. İletişim Yayınları.

Yazıcı, S., Başol, G., & Toprak, G. (2009). Öğretmenlerin çokkültürlü eğitim tutumları: Bir güvenirlik ve geçerlik çalışması [Teachers’ attitudes toward multicultural education: A study of reliability and validity]. Hacettepe Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi, 37, 229–242.

Yeğen, M. (2007). Turkish nationalism and the Kurdish question. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 30(1), 119–151. https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870601006602 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/01419870601006603

Yiğit, M. F., & Tarman, B. (2016). How do different ethnicities approach the education system and differences in Turkey? Italian Sociological Review, 6(3), 339–353. https://doi.org/10.13136/isr.v6i3.119