The Role of Race and Culture within Marginalized Teachers’ Teaching in The Netherlands

Abstract

The migration rate in the Netherlands increased in the number of ethnically diverse students as well as marginalized teachers. A study has shown that both teachers and students believe that teacher preparation programs deserve deepening in multicultural education. In the Netherlands no research has been done into the influence of race and culture in multicultural classrooms as defined by marginalized teachers. This is surprising considering these teachers face multicultural classrooms daily. Therefore, this study investigated how marginalized teachers define the role of race and culture in their teaching. Ten marginalized teachers were interviewed. Domains of Teaching were used in order to structure the concept of teaching. Criteria from Culturally Responsive Teaching and Teachers Interpersonal Competencies in multicultural classrooms were linked to the Domains of Teaching to analyze education from a racial and cultural perspective. Results showed that teachers describe the role of race and culture as important within relationships and classroom management. Within curriculum and instruction, teachers defined this role as less important. Also, teachers described their marginalized background as less significant within the domain of curriculum and instruction than in the other domains.