Full Cycle of Inquiry Necessary to Go Beyond Cultural Sensitivity Knowledge Development

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session 8
  In Roundtable Session: Preparing Teachers for Culturally Diverse Students and Multicultural Societies

Abstract

Cultural diverse classrooms requires teachers to be culturally sensitive. Teacher inquiry is a potentially effective strategy for encouraging professional development with respect to cultural sensitivity. This paper presents a study in which seven teachers from a large culturally diverse school for Senior Secondary Vocational Education and Training participated in an intervention in which they conducted inquiry to explore their current practices. The Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth was used as an analytical tool to determine change reported by the teachers after semi-structured interviews. The results suggest that a small number of inquiry activities significantly accelerate teachers’ knowledge development and awareness regarding cultural sensitivity. Teachers performing the full cycle strengthen their cultural sensitivity also on the behavioral and action side.

Authors

• Kennedy Tielman, Fontys University of Applied Science

• Renate Wesselink, Wageningen University

• Perry den Brok, Wageningen University

• Quinta Kools