A research study focusing on Banks' typology of ethnicity as related to elementary teachers multicultural experiences

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this paper was to determine: (1) if elementary teachers were distributed differently along the stages of ethnicity according to Banks' typology; (2) whether multicultural experiences affected stages of ethnicity; and (3) whether four demographic factors (age, years of teaching experience, sex and ethnic group identification) influenced the relationship between multicultural experiences and elementary teachers stages of ethnicity. Methodology. This was a survey study which used correlational statistics to analyze the questionnaire responses of 200 elementary school teachers. Findings. The significant findings of this study suggest from the major and sub hypotheses tested the following information: 1. Elementary teachers distributed themselves differently along the stages of ethnicity. 2. There was a positive relationship between elementary teachers extent of multicultural experiences and stage of ethnicity. 3. There was a positive relationship between the extent of multicultural experiences and stages of ethnicity among elementary teachers as it relates to the age category of the teachers. The younger the teachers, the stronger the correlation between those variables. 4. In viewing years of teaching experience, it was discovered that the relationship between multicultural experiences and stages of ethnicity was equally as strong for beginning teachers as for veteran teachers. 5. The relationship between multicultural experiences and stage of ethnicity was found to be stronger among females than male elementary teachers. 6. In general it was found that the more multicultural experiences (Afro Americans, Mexican Americans, and Anglo Americans) elementary teachers encountered, the higher their stage of ethnicity. In addition, it was found that Anglo teachers were slightly more positively affected than were ethnic minority teachers.Education, College o