Multicultural attitudes and cultural intelligence of preschool teachers

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the preschool teachers’ cultural intelligence, their attitudes towards multicultural education and the correlation between these two variables. Design/methodology/approach The sample consisted of 203 preschool teachers working in preschool classes within primary schools administrated by the Ministry of Education in Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC). Data were collected from the teachers by cultural intelligence scale (CQS), teacher multicultural attitude survey (TMAS) and demographic information form. Findings The analysis revealed that cultural intelligence and attitudes towards multicultural education did not differ according to teaching experience in a foreign country. Significant differences were found in metacognition, motivation and behaviour sub-dimension scores, cultural intelligence total scores and multicultural education attitude scores because of having a friend in foreign country, cognition sub-dimension scores because of having a non-Turkish-speaking student (NTSS) in class and cultural intelligence total scores because of knowing a foreign language. Significant relation was found between cultural intelligence scores and multicultural education attitude scores of the participants. Originality/value Despite the increasing cultural diversity in the country, there are no official regulations or efforts to establish arrangements for multicultural education in TRNC. Thus, this research is valuable for clarifying the situation in TRNC, determining the requirements and providing insights for future scientific work and implications.