Eighteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

Countries have exhibited holistic approaches to ethnic and cultural differences in their communities and schools. It is starting to become a fact that some countries consider diversity as a threat and try to adopt ways in order to assimilate people who belong to such diversity. On the other hand, some other countries adopt a framework of tolerance and equality for individuals making up such diversity. This qualitative research was conducted in different public schools in Turkey. The participants of the study included 144 teachers in pre-schools, elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools. The duration of the study was approximately six months. Participants of the study were asked about the situations in their classrooms which were the most challenging and the easiest for them to overcome in relation to student diversity. In addition, teachers were asked about their expectations from the families of diverse student populations. Lastly, teachers answered questions about their opinions in terms of having different cultural and ethnic backgrounds than their students. The data were analyzed using content analysis approach.