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Case study of culturally responsive training influence on teachers' self -efficacy and instructional strategies regarding their low -income, minority students
Abstract
Many low-income, minority students are performing poorly in American schools (Gay, 2000). Two problems that contribute to minority students' poor academic performance are teachers' negative perceptions of and instructional disconnection between their low-income, minority students' home lives and community experiences (Cagle, 1998; Sternberg, 2006). Culturally responsive training has the potential to ameliorate teachers' negative perceptions in these areas (Ginsberg, 2007; Gonzalez et al., 2005; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). This study investigated the influence that culturally responsive training had on teachers' self-efficacy perceptions and instructional strategies with respect to teaching their low-income, minority students (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Ginsberg, 2007; Gonzalez et al., 2005). The research questions were the following: (1) How does culturally responsive training influence elementary and middle school teachers' self-efficacy perceptions with respect to teaching their low-income, minority students?, (2) How does culturally responsive training influence a change in elementary and middle school teachers' instructional strategies concerning their low-income, minority students?, and (3) Is there a significant difference between elementary and middle school teachers' self-efficacy with respect to teaching their low-income, minority students? A type II single-case, embedded case study design was used (Yin, 2003). The purposeful sample of N=35 teachers, n=20 elementary and n=15 middle school participated in the study. The data were gathered and triangulated for corroboration purposes using the following strategies: questionnaires, document analysis, and interviews (Yin,). The questionnaires used a 5-point Likert agreement scale. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were used to analyze the questionnaire data (Gall et al., 2007). Hodder's (2003) material culture strategy was employed to analyze teacher lesson plans, and Rubin and Rubin's (2005) coding strategy was used in the analysis of the teacher interview typescripts. Findings indicated that culturally responsive training did not influence teachers' self-efficacy or instructional strategies with respect to teaching their low-income, minority students. It was concluded that teachers' knowledge of low-income, minority students' home lives was essential for developing supportive accommodations to their teaching practices for these students. Further investigation of teachers' supportive accommodations was recommended to enhance educators' working with low-income, minority students.
Subject Area
Bilingual education|Multicultural education
Recommended Citation
Ponds, Jonathan C, "Case study of culturally responsive training influence on teachers' self -efficacy and instructional strategies regarding their low -income, minority students" (2008). Dissertation & Theses Collection. AAI3315145.
https://scholarsarchive.jwu.edu/dissertations/AAI3315145