General and Special Educators' Perceptions of Teaching Strategies for Multicultural Students

Abstract

This article focuses on a recent study that investigated perceptions of regular and special educators working with multicultural students with and without disabilities throughout the State of Kansas. The Multicultural Special Education Survey was distributed to 403 general and special educators who represented geographical areas, as well as school districts with an enrollment equal to or greater than 10 percent. This instrument consisted of items related to categories of demographics, professional development, cultural knowledge, linguistics, and teaching strategies. In the area of professional development, the most noteworthy and frequently cited response was "no training" in multicultural education course work. The highest percentage of respondents reported that cultural knowledge would help them understand the influence of their students' verbal and nonverbal learning/behavioral styles. The highest percentage of respondents reported that knowledge about the language of multicultural students and child language development were the most important areas of training. Respondents indicated that teacher-student discussion, cooperative learning, and peer tutoring were useful teaching strategies with multicultural students with and without disabilities. These results are discussed relative to the knowledge base of general and special educators and the future direction of teacher preparation programs.