The relationships among teacher self-concept, multicultural education, and effectiveness in teaching reading as perceived by American and Indonesian teachers

The main purpose of the study was to investigate relationships between teacher Self-Concept and Self Effectiveness and to test whether Multicultural Education variables add significantly to a prediction model for teacher effectiveness.A factor analysis for a pilot study indicated four factors for Self-Effectiveness and seven for Multicultural Education. Samples of 146 American and 195 Indonesian teachers of reading responded to three instruments. The data were analyzed using multiple regression analysis, and eight null hypotheses were tested by applying associated F-statistics using an alpha level of .05.Findings1. Self-Concept was significantly related to all four factors of Self-Effectiveness for both samples.2. Subsets of the seven factors of Multicultural Education were found to significantly increase the explained variation for three factors of Self-Effectiveness for both samples.The combination of Self-Concept and Multicultural Education: Expectations and Responses increased the variation for three factors for Self-Effectiveness: Teacher as Person, Teacher-Learner Relationship, and Instructional Methods/Materials for the American sample. For the Indonesian sample, the addition of two factors for Multicultural Education: Awareness and Curriculum Instruction to Self-Concept increased the variation for two factors for Self-Effectiveness: Teacher as Person and Teacher-Learner Relationship. In the same sample, the combination of Self Concept and Multicultural Education: Awareness alone increased the variation for Self-Effectiveness: Teacher as a Classroom Manager. Because differences existed between the two samples with regard to variables that added significantly to the prediction model, possible explanations are provided.Conclusions and RecommendationsTeacher effectiveness can be partially explained by either Self-Concept alone or the combination of Self Concept and Multicultural Education dimensions. Findings suggest that attempts within teacher education programs for both countries should be made toimprove the teacher Self-Concept and to develop a better understanding of Multicultural Education.Department of Elementary EducationThesis (D. Ed.