Teachers’ Perspective on Cultural Diversity in School: A Case Studies

Abstract

Malaysia is known as a multi-racial and multi-cultural. The many different ethnicities that currently exist in Malaysia have their own unique and distinctive cultural identities. This study aims to understand teachers’ perspective on cultural diversity in primary schools based on Byram’s multicultural model that focused on four aspects which are knowledge, skills, attitudes and practices. A qualitative approach with case study design was used in this study. The respondents involving three teachers and an administrator in an elementary school in Perak selected by purposive sampling. Instruments used was the interview’s protocol, observation’s check list and documents analysis. The findings showed that the respondents have the knowledge, skills, openness attitudes and practice towards other cultures. This study has shown that teachers with positive attitude towards cultural diversity and correlating cultural diversity allow the three largest ethnic groups in Malaysia to have their respect and accepting the cultural
diversity that exist in this country. It also can be a guidance for the department of education in drafting a new program related to cultural diversity in schools. Hence, it can also be used as a guideline by other researchers in the future.