Culturally Responsive Professional Development: Cultivating Early Childhood Teachers’ Multicultural Teaching Competence

Conference: The Southeast Asian Conference on Education (SEACE2023)
Title: Culturally Responsive Professional Development: Cultivating Early Childhood Teachers’ Multicultural Teaching Competence
Stream: Professional Training, Development & Concerns in Education
Presentation Type: Virtual Presentation
Authors:
Pui King Barbara Ho, Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Shiang-Yi Lin, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Sing Pui To-Chan, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Chun Bun Lam, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong
Kevin Kien Hoa Chung, The Education University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong

Abstract:

This paper presents a study examining the effectiveness of a Hong Kong based teacher professional development program conducted in 2018-2019. The 60-hour program empowers early childhood teachers to embrace culturally responsive classroom teaching. Its objective is to develop teachers’ multicultural competence and increase their capacity in planning curricula and designing learning and teaching activities for non-Chinese speaking ethnic minority children. The study adopts a between-group comparison to measure the multicultural teaching competence of teachers who have attended the program and those who have not. Pre-test and post-test are used to assess changes in teachers’ multicultural teaching competence. The tripartite model of multicultural teaching competence suggested by Leung and Hue (2020) is adopted to evaluate early childhood teachers after they complete the program. Results show that teachers who have attended the program significantly improved multicultural teaching competence in all dimensions (i.e., skills, knowledge, and relationships). The findings suggest that teachers’ skills and knowledge in implementing culturally responsive teaching in kindergartens and promoting cultural harmony in classrooms are strengthened after taking the program. It enables teachers better to address non-Chinese speaking ethnic minority children’s learning needs and engage them with culturally responsive pedagogies. The study contributes to early childhood teacher professional development by analyzing teachers’ multicultural teaching competence.

Virtual Presentation

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