Teachers’ Perceptions of Immigrant Students and Families: A Qualitative Study

Abstract

The perception that teachers have of cultural diversity is essential when it comes to the educational attention given to immigrant students. The objective is to determine how teachers perceive students’ cultural diversity and families’ commitment with the education of their children, and if this perception can influence teachers’ expectations regarding students and their families. This is qualitative research study based on hermeneutic phenomenology developed through semi-structured interviews, applied on an intentional sample of 16 Spanish primary school teachers. The results indicate that teachers need the assistance of educational specialists, training in cultural diversity, and intercultural communication skills. They also recognize the importance of enhancing collaboration with immigrant families. Hence, education must be rethought, bearing in mind the perceptions of teachers, empowering students and their families with new innovative formulas aimed at incorporating their cultural references in the curriculum, and providing culturally relevant teaching.

Home-school Communication in Greek Secondary Multicultural Educational Settings: Parents’ and Teachers’ perspectives

“…Research has shown that cultural diversity establishes a misconception between parents' and teachers' needs. Ethnic stereotypes, either positive or negative (Podadera & González-Jimenez, 2023), can largely construct teachers' perception, for example Polish students are considered diligent and successful as they are receiving intense parental support (Shalloo, 2015). Parental attitudes towards HSC and education may be shaped by the different cultural norms or different schooling type (teaching strategies, assessments, homework) experienced in their homelands (Antony-Newman, 2019).…”

The Crucial Role of Green Soft Skills and Leadership for Sustainability: A Case Study of an Italian Small and Medium Enterprise Operating in the Food Sector

“…Based on the analysis of the extant literature, the semi-structured interview protocol was prepared by including questions used in previous studies [34,100,125,126]. As already conducted by previous studies [127], the interview protocol was subjected to a preliminary test by asking the opinion of three employees to identify potential ambiguities in the questions. The questions were then reformulated to incorporate their suggestions and, according to other studies [128,129], the interview protocol was authenticated by a panel of four experts (two academics and two experts of qualitative research) that analyzed the questions and made some amendments that were incorporated in the final version of the interview protocol including 50 questions.…”

Promotion of Values Education (Factors Involved in Prosocial Behaviors and Volunteering)

“…Giménez [48] considers that this positive interaction will encourage the participation of many individuals, uniting collaboration spaces to build the foundation of interculturalism through collective construction. Diversity is necessary to generate these principles of interculturality, reflecting constructs of coexistence and social cohesion [49]. Therefore, generating an intercultural project seeking to share a common life fosters new identities and ideas for community living [50,51].…”