Dimensions of Multicultural Education: Pedagogical Practices Knowledge of Graduate Students Towards Multicultural Education in Turkey

This qualitative case study aimed to examine teachers’ and teacher candidates’ who are graduate-levelstudents at a public university views on and perceptions of multicultural education and its dimensions in theTurkish context. For this study, the research question was created to examine how participants’ understandingsof multicultural education can help them to apply their pedagogical practices in classrooms in Turkey. For thisexamination, the dimensions of multicultural education that were created by James Banks have shaped thestudents’ possible multicultural practices related to their classrooms, curricula, and schools. This study wasconducted at the Alpha University (pseudonym), located in the Marmara Region of Turkey. The data werecollected from semi-structured interviews, written documents, focus group interview, classroom observation,and fieldnotes. According to the findings, the participants gave various examples of how their pedagogicalpractices related to dimensions of multicultural education could be applied to schools. While some of thesedimensions can be found in the participants' understandings in a straightforward manner and can be explainedvia useful practical examples, it is evident that some dimensions are lacking with regard to practical applications.However, especially with regard to teachers and teacher candidates who have graduated from elementaryeducation programs, the examples they provide are similar and generally come from the same courses. They hadproblems providing more detailed examples of issues related to multiculturalism and diversity relevant to thecontent of different courses.