No prejudice-free society means no prejudice-free teachers, but better times are coming: Teachers and cultural diversity

Abstract

Multicultural education tends to be automatically associated with pupils but in practice it places demands on all those involved in the teaching process. Of these the most predominant role is allocated to the teacher who mediates multicultural competence. Pupil attitudes towards foreigners and cultural diversity are not only influenced by multicultural education but also by teachers’ beliefs-and teachers’ beliefs are largely influenced by personal opinions and attitudes. The author presents the results of qualitative analysis performed on the unrestricted responses of 86 Czech teacher trainees and teachers on the topic of their experiences of foreigners. The analysis indicates their personal attitudes to foreigners, foreign cultures and diversity generally, the level of reflection in relation to cultural diversity, and discusses the results in relation to the wider sociocultural context. © 2015, Institute for Research in Social Communication, Slovak Academy of Sciences.