Fanous, S. M., Wiersma-Mosley, J. D., Herold, L., Timby, D., McNally, S., & Flack, B. (2020). Intercultural competence among early childhood educators. Discovery, The Student Journal of Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences, 21(1), 3
The study was conducted to help early childhood educators to develop intercultural competence. Twenty-four childhood educators and staff participated in the study. All the participants took a pre and post-IDI. Pre-IDI took place in December of 2019. After the pre-IDI, all the 24 participants participated in a 3-hour-long intercultural training workshop. During the workshop, participants were asked to identify toys, books, etc., that promoted diversity and cultural representation.
Further, participants were asked to create a list of the items they wished to see in class. The requested toys and books were bought for the classrooms. Three months later, the post - IDI assessment was conducted in March 2020. The results were analyzed using a t-test as 21 participants took the post-test. The results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in the DO score from pre to post. Also, in the pre-test, eight were in polarization, 13 in minimization, 1 in acceptance, and 2 in adaptation. In Posttest, four were in polarization, 11 in minimization, and 6 in acceptance. The results of the study concluded that the intervention helped the educators make changes to their curriculum and environment, making them interculturally aware and competent.
2020
Quantitative
Teacher Development
2016-2020
