DEVELOPING EFFECTIVE MULTICULTURAL PRACTICES: A CASE STUDY OF EXPLORING A TEACHER’S UNDERSTANDING AND PRACTICES

The United States of America is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. The cultural, racial and ethnic composition of US schools has become increasingly diverse. Diversity within societies and an increasing percentage of people who speak a second language has made multicultural education crucial at all levels of education, and now, more emphasis exists for integrating a culturally inclusive world-view into all areas of the curriculum. Early childhood educators have also responded this social change and have a commitment to fostering respect for diversity and to providing equal educational opportunities to all children. Since children begin to notice differences and construct classificatory and evaluative categories very early, early childhood educators need to affirm and foster children’s knowledge and pride in their cultural identities. The purpose of this case study is to explore a preschool teacher’s understanding and implementation of best practices of multicultural education. Face-to-face meetings were arranged with preschool teachers in thei