Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-rvbq7 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-14T07:43:51.904Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

7 - Individuals, Groups, and Classrooms: Conceptual and Methodological Considerations on Studying Approaches to Cultural Diversity in Schools

from Part 2 - Individual Differences across Cultures

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 January 2021

By
Maja Katharina Schachner ,
Miriam Schwarzenthal  and
Peter Noack
Edited by
Michael Bender  and
Byron G. Adams
Michael Bender
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
Byron G. Adams
Affiliation:
Universiteit van Tilburg, The Netherlands
Get access

Summary

Understanding how schools should approach increasing cultural diversity is a key research question of the 21st century. In this chapter, we provide recommendations to ensure that measures of approaches to cultural diversity in schools are theoretically sound, valid, and reliable in different groups and at different levels of analysis. We argue that (1) we need measures that are tailored to and / or reliably work in specific target populations, in terms of ethnic groups represented and age-specific notions of culture and intercultural relations; (2) both students’ individually perceived norms AND shared perceptions of these norms should be considered to better understand the dynamics in multi-ethnic classrooms. Interactions within and between levels different levels of analysis can shed light on group-specific effects of approaches to cultural diversity in schools; and (3) “objective” measures of the school diversity context (e.g., school projects or policies) may help to better understand contextual effects.

Keywords

multi-ethnic schoolsapproaches to cultural diversitymeasurementmultilevelmultigroup
Type
Chapter
Information
Methods and Assessment in Culture and Psychology , pp. 123 - 143
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2021

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Abrams, D., Rutland, A., Pelletier, J., & Ferrell, J. M. (2009). Children’s group nous: Understanding and applying peer exclusion within and between groups. Child Development, 80, 224–243.Google Scholar
Allport, G. W. (1954). The Nature of Prejudice. Cambridge: Perseus Books.Google Scholar
Arikan, S., van de Vijver, A. J. R., & Yagmur, K. (2017). PISA mathematics and reading performance differences of mainstream European and Turkish immigrant students. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 29, 229–246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, J. A. (1993). Multicultural education: Historical development, dimensions, and practice. Review of Research in Education, 19, 3–49.Google Scholar
Banks, J. A. (2009). Diversity and citizenship education in multicultural nations. Multicultural Education Review, 1, 1–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banks, J. A. (2015). Cultural Diversity and Education (6th ed.). New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
Banting, K., & Kymlicka, W. (2013). Is there really a retreat from multiculturalism policies? New evidence from the multiculturalism policy index. Comparative European Politics, 11, 577–598.Google Scholar
Baysu, G., Celeste, L., Brown, R., Verschueren, K., & Phalet, K. (2016). Minority adolescents in ethnically diverse schools: Perceptions of equal treatment buffer threat effects. Child Development, 87, 1352–1366.Google Scholar
Beelmann, A., Heinemann, K. S., & Saur, M. (2009). Interventionen zur Prävention von Vorurteilen und Diskriminierung [Interventions for the prevention of prejudice and discrimination]. In Beelmann, A. & Jonas, K. (eds.), Diskriminierung und Toleranz. Psychologische Grundlagen und Anwendungsperspektiven (pp. 435–461). Wiesbaden, Germany: VS-Verlag.Google Scholar
Berry, J. W. (1997). Immigration, acculturation, and adaptation. Applied Psychology – An International Review, 46, 5–34.Google Scholar
Bigler, R. S., & Liben, L. S. (2007). Developmental intergroup theory. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 16, 162–166.Google Scholar
Brenick, A., Titzmann, P. F., Michel, A., & Silbereisen, R. K. (2012). Perceptions of discrimination by young diaspora migrants. European Psychologist, 17, 105–119.Google Scholar
Byrd, C. M. (2015). The associations of intergroup interactions and school racial socialization with academic motivation. The Journal of Educational Research, 108, 10–21.Google Scholar
Byrd, C. M. (2017). The complexity of school racial climate: Reliability and validity of a new measure for secondary students. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 87, 700–721.Google Scholar
Celeste, L., Baysu, G., Phalet, K., & Brown, R. (2020). Self-Affirmation and Test Performance in Ethnically Diverse Schools: A New Dual-Identity Affirmation Intervention. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Celeste, L., Baysu, G., Phalet, K., Meeussen, L., & Kende, J. (2019). Can school diversity policies reduce belonging and achievement gaps between minority and majority youth? Multiculturalism, colorblindness, and assimilationism assessed. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45, 1603–1618.Google Scholar
Cheung, F. M., van de Vijver, F. J., & Leong, F. T. (2011). Toward a new approach to the study of personality in culture. American Psychologist, 66, 593–603.Google Scholar
Civitillo, S., Juang, L. P., Badra, M., & Schachner, M. K. (2019). The interplay between culturally responsive teaching, cultural diversity beliefs, and self-reflection: A multiple case study. Teaching and Teacher Education, 77, 341–351.Google Scholar
Civitillo, S., Schachner, M. K., van de Vijver, F. J. R., Juang, L., Handrick, A., & Noack, P. (2017). Towards a better understanding of cultural diversity approaches at school – A multi-informant and mixed-methods study. Learning, Culture and Social Interaction, 12, 1–14.Google Scholar
Fauth, B., Decristan, J., Rieser, S., Klieme, E., & Büttner, G. (2014). Grundschulunterricht aus Schüler-, Lehrer- und Beobachterperspektive: Zusammenhänge und Vorhersage von Lernerfolg [Primary school instruction as seen by students, teachers, and observers: Associations and prediction of successful learning]. Zeitschrift für Pädagogische Psychologie, 127–137.Google Scholar
Fetvadjiev, V. H., Meiring, D., van de Vijver, F. J. R., Nel, J. A., & Hill, C. (2015). The South African Personality Inventory (SAPI): A culture-informed instrument for the country’s main ethnocultural groups. Psychological Assessment, 27, 827–837.Google Scholar
Frankenberg, E., Kupper, K., Wagner, R., & Bongard, S. (2013). Immigrant youth in Germany. European Psychologist, 18, 158–168.Google Scholar
Frenzel, A. C., Pekrun, R., & Goetz, T. (2007). Perceived learning environment and students’ emotional experiences: A multilevel analysis of mathematics classrooms. Learning and Instruction, 17, 478–493.Google Scholar
Gay, G. (1975). Organizing and designing culturally pluralistic curriculum. Educational Leadership, 33, 176–183.Google Scholar
Gay, G. (2002). Preparing for culturally responsive teaching. Journal of Teacher Education, 53, 106–116.Google Scholar
Gay, G. (2015). The what, why, and how of culturally responsive teaching: international mandates, challenges, and opportunities. Multicultural Education Review, 7, 123–139.Google Scholar
Gebauer, J. E., Sedikides, C., Schönbrodt, F. D., Bleidorn, W., Rentfrow, P. J., Potter, J., & Gosling, S. D. (2017). The religiosity as social value hypothesis: A multi-method replication and extension across 65 countries and three levels of spatial aggregation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 113, 18–39.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gehlbach, H., & Brinkworth, M. E. (2011). Measure twice, cut down error: A process for enhancing the validity of survey scales. Review of General Psychology, 15, 380–387.Google Scholar
Gniewosz, B., & Noack, P. (2006). Intergenerationale Transmissions-und Projektionsprozesse intoleranter Einstellungen zu Ausländern in der Familie [Intergenerational transmission and projection processes of intolerant attitudes toward foreigners in the family]. Zeitschrift für Entwicklungspsychologie und Pädagogische Psychologie, 38, 33–42.Google Scholar
Gniewosz, B., & Noack, P. (2008). Classroom climate indicators and attitudes towards foreigners. Journal of Adolescence, 31, 609–624.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Godfrey, E. B., & Grayman, J. K. (2014). Teaching citizens: The role of open classroom climate in fostering critical consciousness among youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43, 1801–1817.Google Scholar
Graham, S. (2006). Peer victimization in schools. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 317–321.Google Scholar
Green, C. W., Adams, A. M., & Turner, C. W. (1988). Development and validation of the school interracial climate scale. American Journal of Community Psychology, 16, 241–259.Google Scholar
Gurin, P., Dey, E. L., Hurtado, S., & Gurin, G. (2002). Diversity and higher education: Theory and impact on educational outcomes. Harvard Educational Review, 72, 330–366.Google Scholar
Haenni Hoti, A., Heinzmann, S., Müller, M., & Buholzer, A. (2017). Psychosocial adaptation and school success of Italian, Portuguese and Albanian students in Switzerland: Disentangling migration background, acculturation and the school context. Journal of International Migration and Integration, 18, 85–106.Google Scholar
Ham, S.-H., Yang, K.-E., & Cha, Y.-K. (2017). Immigrant integration policy for future generations? A cross-national multilevel analysis of immigrant-background adolescents’ sense of belonging at school. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 60, 40–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
He, J., & van de Vijver, F. (2012). Bias and equivalence in cross-cultural research. Online Readings in Psychology and Culture, 2.Google Scholar
Hornsey, M. J., & Hogg, M. A. (2000). Assimilation and diversity: An integrative model of subgroup relations. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 4, 143–156.Google Scholar
Hox, J. J. (2010). Multilevel analysis: Techniques and applications (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Huddleston, T., Niessen, J., Chaoimh, E. N., & White, E. (2011). Migrant Integration Policy Index III. Retrieved from http://issuu.com/mipex/docs/migrant_integration_policy_index_mipexiii_2011?e=2578332/3681189#search.Google Scholar
Jansen, W. S., Otten, S., & van der Zee, K. I. (2015). Being part of diversity. The effects of an all-inclusive multicultural diversity approach on majority members’ perceived inclusion and support for organizational diversity efforts. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 18, 817–832.Google Scholar
Jordan, C. (1985). Translating culture: From ethnographic information to educational program. Anthropology & Education Quarterly, 16, 105–123.Google Scholar
Jugert, P., Noack, P., & Rutland, A. (2011). Friendship preferences among German and Turkish preadolescents. Child Development, 82, 812–829.Google Scholar
Khalifa, M. A., Gooden, M. A., & Davis, J. E. (2016). Culturally responsive school leadership: A synthesis of the literature. Review of Educational Research, 1272–1311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Killen, M., & Rutland, A. (2011). Children and Social Exclusion – Morality, Prejudice, and Group Identity. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Kinket, B., & Verkuyten, M. (1999). Intergroup evaluations and social context: A multilevel approach. European Journal of Social Psychology, 29, 219–237.3.0.CO;2-X>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kiuru, N., Nurmi, J.-E., Aunola, K., & Salmela-Aro, K. (2009). The role of peer groups in adolescents’ educational trajectories. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 6, 521–547.Google Scholar
Kristen, C., & Granato, N. (2007). The educational attainment of the second generation in Germany: Social origins and ethnic inequality. Ethnicities, 7, 343–366.Google Scholar
Lam, A. C., Ruzek, E. A., Schenke, K., Conley, A. M., & Karabenick, S. A. (2015). Student perceptions of classroom achievement goal structure: Is it appropriate to aggregate? Journal of Educational Psychology, 107, 1102–1115.Google Scholar
Marsh, H. W., Lüdtke, O., Nagengast, B., Trautwein, U., Morin, A. J. S., Abduljabbar, A. S., & Köller, O. (2012). Classroom climate and contextual effects: Conceptual and methodological issues in the evaluation of group-level effects. Educational Psychologist, 47, 106–124.Google Scholar
Molina, L. E., & Wittig, M. A. (2006). Relative importance of contact conditions in explaining prejudice reduction in a classroom context: Separate and equal? Journal of Social Issues, 62, 489–509.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nesdale, D. (2004). Social identity processes and children’s ethnic prejudice. In Bennett, M. & Sani, F. (eds.), The Development of the Social Self (pp. 219–246). East Sussex: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Nesdale, D., Maass, A., Durkin, K., & Griffiths, J. (2005). Group norms, threat, and children’s racial prejudice. Child Development, 76, 652–663.Google Scholar
Park, B., & Judd, C. M. (2005). Rethinking the link between categorization and prejudice within the social cognition perspective. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9, 108–130.Google Scholar
Peterson, E. R., Rubie-Davies, C., Osborne, D., & Sibley, C. (2016). Teachers’ explicit expectations and implicit prejudiced attitudes to educational achievement: Relations with student achievement and the ethnic achievement gap. Learning and Instruction, 42, 123–140.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, T. F. (1998). Intergroup contact theory. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 65–85.Google Scholar
Pettigrew, T. F., Tropp, L. R., Wagner, U., & Christ, O. (2011). Recent advances in intergroup contact theory. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 35, 271–280.Google Scholar
Phinney, J. S., Jacoby, B., & Silva, C. (2007). Positive intergroup attitudes: The role of ethnic identity. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 31, 478–490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pulinx, R., van Avermaet, P., & Agirdag, O. (2017). Silencing linguistic diversity: the extent, the determinants and consequences of the monolingual beliefs of Flemish teachers. International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 20, 542–556.Google Scholar
Quintana, S. M., Castañeda-English, P., & Ybarra, V. C. (1999). Role of perspective-taking abilities and ethnic socialization in development of adolescent ethnic identity. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 9, 161–184.Google Scholar
Raabe, T., & Beelmann, A. (2011). Development of ethnic, racial, and national prejudice in childhood and adolescence: A multinational meta-analysis of age differences. Child Development, 82, 1715–1737.Google Scholar
Rattan, A., & Ambady, N. (2013). Diversity ideologies and intergroup relations: An examination of colorblindness and multiculturalism. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43, 12–21.Google Scholar
Raudenbush, S. W., & Bryk, A. S. (2001). Hierarchical Linear Models: Applications and Data Analysis Methods (vol. 2). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Rutland, A., & Killen, M. (2015). A developmental science approach to reducing prejudice and social exclusion: Intergroup processes, social-cognitive development, and moral reasoning. Social Issues and Policy Review, 9, 121–154.Google Scholar
Schachner, M., Schwarzenthal, M., van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Noack, P. (2018). How all students can belong and achieve – Effects of the cultural diversity climate amongst students of immigrant and non-immigrant background in Germany. Journal of Educational Psychology, 111, 703–716.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schachner, M. K. (2017). From equality and inclusion to cultural pluralism – evolution and effects of cultural diversity perspectives in schools. European Journal of Developmental Psychology, 16, 1–17.Google Scholar
Schachner, M. K., He, J., Heizmann, B., & van de Vijver, A. J. R. (2017). Acculturation and school adjustment of immigrant youth in six European countries: Findings from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). Frontiers in Psychology, 8.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schachner, M. K., Juang, L., Moffitt, U., & van de Vijver, A. J. R. (2018). Schools as acculturative and developmental contexts for youth of immigrant and refugee background. European Psychologist, 23, 44–56.Google Scholar
Schachner, M. K., Noack, P., van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Eckstein, K. (2016). Cultural diversity climate and psychological adjustment at school – Equality and inclusion versus cultural pluralism. Child Development, 87, 1175–1191.Google Scholar
Schachner, M. K., Schwarzenthal, M., Moffitt, U., Civitillo, S., & Juang, L. P. (in press). Capturing a nuanced picture of classroom cultural diversity climate: Multigroup and multilevel analyses among secondary school students in Germany. Contemporary Educational Psychology.Google Scholar
Schenke, K., Ruzek, E., Lam, A. C., Karabenick, S. A., & Eccles, J. S. (2017). Heterogeneity of student perceptions of the classroom climate: A latent profile approach. Learning Environments Research, 20, 289–306.Google Scholar
Schofield, J. W. (2001). The colorblind perspective in school: Causes and consequences. In Banks, J. A. & McGeeBanks, C. A. (eds.), Multicultural Education. Issues & Perspectives (4th ed., pp. 247–267). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
Schwarzenthal, M., Juang, L. P., Schachner, M. K., van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Handrick, A. (2017). From tolerance to understanding: Exploring the development of intercultural competence in multiethnic contexts from early to late adolescence. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 27, 388–399.Google Scholar
Schwarzenthal, M., Schachner, M. K., Juang, L., & van de Vijver, A. J. R. (2018). Reaping the Benefits of Cultural Diversity in Schools: Classroom Cultural Diversity Climate and Students’ Intercultural Competence. Manuscript submitted for publication.Google Scholar
Schwarzenthal, M., Schachner, M., van de Vijver, F. J. R., & Juang, L. (2017). Equal but different? Effects of equality/inclusion and cultural pluralism on intergroup outcomes in multiethnic classrooms. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 24, 260–271.Google Scholar
Siwatu, K. O., Putman, S. M., Starker-Glass, T. V., & Lewis, C. W. (2015). The Culturally Responsive Classroom Management Self-Efficacy Scale: Development and initial validation. Urban Education, 52, 1–27.Google Scholar
Thomas, W. I., & Thomas, D. S. (1928). The Child in America: Behavior Problems and Programs. New York: Knopf.Google Scholar
Tropp, L. R., O’Brien, T. C., Gonzalez Gutierrez, R., Valdenegro, D., Migacheva, K., de Tezanos-Pinto, P., … Cayul, O. (2016). How school norms, peer norms, and discrimination predict interethnic experiences among ethnic minority and majority youth. Child Development, 87, 1436–1451.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tropp, L. R., & Pettigrew, T. F. (2005). Relationships between intergroup contact and prejudice among minority and majority status groups. Psychological Science, 16, 951–957.Google Scholar
Tropp, L. R., & Prenevost, M. (2008). The role of intergroup contact in predicting children’s interethnic attitudes: Evidence from meta-analytic and field studies. In Levy, S. R. & Killen, M. (eds.), Intergroup Attitudes and Relations in Childhood through Adulthood (pp. 236–248). New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Verkuyten, M., & Thijs, J. (2013). Multicultural education and inter-ethnic attitudes: An intergroup perspective. European Psychologist, 18, 179–190.Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×