The Relationship Between Elementary Teachers’ Beliefs About Diversity and and Their Selections of Multicultural Materials

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to understand the relationship between urban elementary teachers’ beliefs about diversity and their selection of literacy material for instructional practices in their classrooms. Currently, the teacher population is essentially homogenous, consisting of a majority of middle-class White females, while the student population is growing more diverse. Teachers’ instructional decisions tend to reflect their own cultural background and not the cultural background of the diverse student population. This study examined urban teachers’ personal and professional beliefs about diversity and found that gender was a factor in the teachers’ diversity scores. The review of children’s literature listed by the teachers further revealed that there was a lack of representation of characters of color in the teachers’ classrooms. Finally, teachers that scored high on the diversity scale had more multicultural literature available in their classrooms.