Implicit and explicit attitudes toward Turkish students in Germany as a function of teachers’ ethnicity

A large number of educational systems face the challenges of dealing with students from different ethnic minorities and providing equal opportunities for them. In Germany, Turkish students belong to the largest ethnic minority group and display the lowest levels of academic achievement in comparison with most other ethnic minority or German students. Teachers’ attitudes toward Turkish students might contribute to the disadvantages of this social group. The aim of this study was to assess preservice teachers’ implicit and explicit attitudes toward Turkish students. Previous research has focused primarily on the attitudes of ethnic majority teachers. Drawing on potential benefits of a cultural match between teachers and students, we considered ethnic majority preservice teachers, preservice teachers with a Turkish background, and those with other ethnic minority backgrounds. Results showed no differences in explicit attitudes but significant differences in implicit attitudes depending on teachers’ ethnic background. Preservice teachers with Turkish backgrounds showed positive implicit attitudes toward Turkish students, preservice teachers from other ethnic minority backgrounds had more neutral attitudes, whereas German preservice teachers had negative implicit attitudes toward Turkish students. Findings are discussed in terms of the cultural match between students and teachers and the benefits of a culturally diverse teaching workforce