A case study of Texas regional education service center multicultural/diversity trainers' perception of teacher resistance and structural barriers to multicultural education

摘要

This qualitative case study of eight veteran Texas Regional Education ServiceCenter Multicultural/Diversity Trainers examined their perceptions of structural barriersand teacher resistance to a voluntary program of Multicultural/Diversity Training(MDT). It also explored how they made sense of their roles in light of their sociallocations. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews of thetrainers, observations of MDT sessions, and examination of relevant documents. Datawere analyzed using the constant comparative method.Three themes associated with structural barriers emerged: contextual factors, lackof administrative support, and the Texas system of accountability, particularly highstakes testing. The contextual factors were differences in regional cultures, the autonomyof the Education Service Centers, and the voluntary nature of MDT. Lack ofadministrative support for MDT is crucial because teachers often take administrativeresponse to school reform as their cue for action or inaction. In Texas, high stakes testing exerts influence at every educational level, particularly on teachers in relation tocurriculum, instruction, student placement and professional development choices.Teacher resistance to MDT occurred in the training sessions and in the classroomsetting. During the training sessions teachers resisted MDT because it challenged deeplyheld beliefs and encouraged self-examination, personal disclosure, and discussions ofrace/ethnicity and culture. Resistance in the educational setting was manifested inmaintenance of a Eurocentric perspective, and in school practices such as negativeattitudes toward multicultural education and MDT, placement of students of color inspecial education and lower tracks, and negative attitudes toward all people of color.Ultimately, trainers suggest that they are enmeshed in a system that seeks tomaintain the status quo, and that too many teachers have low expectations for studentswho are different from themselves and conform to a deficit model when dealing withthose students.