PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHERS’ EXPERIENCES REGARDING CHILDREN’S RIGHTS AND MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION

Abstract

The purpose of the current study is to determine primary school teachers’ experiences regarding multicultural education and children’s rights. In the study, the phenomenological design, one of the qualitative research methods, was employed. Maximum variation sampling was used in the selection of the participants. The study group consists of 25 primary school teachers working in two central districts of Denizli. The data collected in the study were analyzed using the content analysis technique. As a result of the analyses, 3 themes, 8 sub-themes and 326 codes were identified. It was found that nearly all of the participating primary school teachers had positive experiences regarding children’s rights. However, it was found that participants expressed both positive and negative experiences regarding multicultural education. Participants stated that factors such as cultural diversity, empathy and shared religious values contributed to the development of positive attitudes; whereas factors such as assimilation, loss of identity, adaptation problems and educational challenges led to negative attitudes. Eight of the teachers participating in the study emphasized the importance of empathy skills in both promoting children’s rights and implementing multicultural education. The development of instructional materials that support multicultural education can be considered one of the recommendations of the study.