Middle School Teachers‘ Reflective Responses to the Cultural Awareness and Beliefs Inventory about African American Learners in an Urban School District: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the beliefs of teachers about their African American students. The Cultural Awareness and Beliefs Inventory (CABI) was used to measure the perceptions and attitudes of urban teachers‘ cultural awareness and beliefs for the purpose of designing professional development.

The themes which emerged from the first study include: (a) teachers devalue students‘ home and family environment; (b) teachers‘ beliefs about their ability to teach all children; (c) teachers have negative perceptions of the school environment; (d) teachers and student have cultural mismatch; and (e) . The themes which emerged from the second study include: (a) teachers find the behaviors of students to be challenging and (b) teachers do not feel supported. In the third study, a constant comparative method was used to analyze the teachers‘ written responses.