PhD defence S. (Sabrina) Alhanachi

Summary:

The aims of this dissertation were 1) to increase insight in Dutch secondary teachers’ culturally responsive competencies, the implementation of CRT and related factors, and 2) to find out more about effective professional development in the area of CRT. The four studies in this dissertation were conducted in Dutch secondary education and included teacher and student perceptions on CRT and school and teacher factors related to professional development in CRT. The quantitative study in Chapter 2 investigated two crucial elements of CRT, namely content integration (i.e., including students’ cultural background in lesson content) and funds of knowledge (i.e., considering students’ individual home context in education), in relation to the teacher-student relationship.
     The qualitative study in Chapter 3 examined the way teachers worked on CRT in a professional learning community (PLC) and to what extent teacher participation in a PLC contributed to their culturally responsive competencies and the implementation of CRT. The qualitative study in Chapter 4 investigated mechanisms involving features of the teacher, the learning activity and the school that may hinder or stimulate the implementation process of a professional development program on CRT. The quantitative study in Chapter 5 examined which context (school diversity beliefs and classroom composition) and individual factors (teachers’ cultural background and years of teaching experience) contribute to teachers’ culturally responsive teaching self-efficacy (CRTSE).