The purpose of this research was to investigate the hypothesis that in order
to provide equal educational access and outcomes for all students, an emphasis
on teacher sensitivity and clarity of instruction is required in a multicultural
classroom.
This study offers an in-depth look at varying levels of narrowly defined
dominant cultural capital between two different cultural groups within a grade 12
Economics classroom, during May and June of 1996. And if differences in the
quantity of narrowly defined cultural capital do, in fact exist, can 'bridging' these
knowledge gaps be achieved through clarity of instruction, so that all groups, after
receiving the requisite cultural capital, can construct new knowledge effectively.
Since the research was exploratory, a qualitative case study design drawing
on ethnographic approaches was employed. Interviews were the primary tool
chosen for data collection; the secondary tools were documents and the
researcher's field notes.
This study has revealed that the levels of narrowly defined cultural capital
were different between cultures, and that the 'playing field' in a multicultural
classroom may be levelled to a significant extent with minimal explanations of the
necessary cultural capital.
This research highlights the importance of teachers' ongoing assessment of
their students knowledge in areas that are non-traditional, and where the
knowledge is assumed by the teacher to already be in place.
The study concludes with some suggestions for teacher practice and for
future research in the field.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:BVAU.2429/5761 |
| Date | 05 1900 |
| Creators | Caine, Cynthia Anne |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Relation | UBC Retrospective Theses Digitization Project [http://www.library.ubc.ca/archives/retro_theses/] |
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