The impact of a multicultural curriculum on the attitudes of seventh -grade students toward individuals of other cultures
Abstract
This study examined the impact of a multicultural curriculum on the attitudes of seventh grade students toward individuals of other cultures. It was conducted at Freedom Middle School in Franklin Special School District, in Franklin, Tennessee. The population was comprised of 311 seventh grade students from three academic teams. Two hundred and fourteen students were assigned to the experimental group, which received multicultural instruction and eighty-six students were assigned to the control group, which received no multicultural instruction. The Multicultural Diversity Scale/Revised (MCR; Ambrosia, 1998) was administered as a pretest to all 311 students in the population. The experimental group received one multicultural lesson per week over a period of nine weeks. The MCR was administered again as a posttest. Results were entered into the Statistical Analysis System, StatView. A series of statistical analyses were computed to test each null hypothesis. A significant difference was found for each null hypothesis tested. There was a significant difference in the posttest mean gain scores of those students who received multicultural instruction when compared with those who received no instruction (p < .001). The posttest mean gain scores for males were significantly higher than the scores for females (p < .0001). African American posttest mean gain scores were significantly higher than Caucasian and Others (p = .0062). Caucasian and Hispanic scores were significantly higher than Others. This research study lends support to theories and previous research which found that multicultural instruction has a positive impact on the attitudes of students toward individuals of other cultures. The findings of this investigation provide strong evidence that supports the necessity and practicality of implementing a multicultural program for middle school students. This study adds information to the discussions on the efficacy of multicultural education for all students as it statistically confirms a direct connection between a multicultural curriculum and cultural attitudes of middle school students. Educators and curriculum planners have a responsibility to provide effective educational programs for students. This investigation substantiates the significance of integrating multicultural education into the academic schema.
Subject Area
Bilingual education|Multicultural education|Secondary education
Recommended Citation
Brenda A. Stewart Hester,
"The impact of a multicultural curriculum on the attitudes of seventh -grade students toward individuals of other cultures"
(2002).
ETD Collection for Tennessee State University.
Paper AAI3086771.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3086771