A comparison of rural middle school teachers' perceptions of culturally responsive teaching

Viola Marlene Prater, Tennessee State University

Abstract

The purpose of this descriptive survey research study was to compare the perceptions of culturally responsive pedagogy of rural middle school teachers. Three middle schools in southeast Tennessee were selected for use in the study. Data were collected from the Teachers' Multicultural Attitude Survey (TMAS) during the 2009-2010 school year, and analyses were conducted to compare means of survey responses. A one-way 2 x 2 x 6 analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted using the TMAS score as the dependent variable. The independent variables tested were: (a) school size—large and small/medium), (b) educational attainment—graduate or undergraduate degree, and (c) level of teaching experience—0-2 years, 3-5 years, 6-10 years, 11-15 years, 16-20 years, and 21 years or more. Three null hypotheses were formulated and tested at the 0.05 level of significance. No statistically significant differences were found between teacher perceptions toward culturally responsive pedagogy and any of the independent variables. One recommendation for practitioners includes conducting teacher in-service training specifically designed to help faculty members meet the needs of culturally and ethnically diverse students. A majority of teachers in this study were Caucasian. Future research may include (a) conducting a similar study at schools having greater cultural and ethnic diversity within the faculty, or (b) comparing rural, urban, and suburban schools of similar sizes. The document contains 147 pages; 24 tables, 4 figures; and, 10 appendices.

Subject Area

Middle School education|Multicultural Education|Ethnic studies

Recommended Citation

Viola Marlene Prater, "A comparison of rural middle school teachers' perceptions of culturally responsive teaching" (2013). ETD Collection for Tennessee State University. Paper AAI3587728.
https://digitalscholarship.tnstate.edu/dissertations/AAI3587728

Share

COinS