Browsing by Subject "kulttuurisesti merkityksellinen pedagogiikka"

The theoretical frame for this study is Ladson-Billings' (1992, 1995) theory of culturally relevant pedagogy. Culturally relevant pedagogy has sought to solve the challenge that multicultural education has not been able to meet. The cultural diversity of schools is a wealth of teaching that should be used as a starting point for school activities. This, according to previous research, increases the student’s experience of relevance and violates the power structures that prevail in the school. This study is interested in the way teachers feel that they implement culturally relevant pedagogy in their teaching. In addition, the purpose is to find out the abilities and challenges experienced by teachers when implementing culturally relevant pedagogy in their teaching. This study is a multi-case study. The research material has been collected through a thematic interview by interviewing primary school teachers in schools in the Helsinki metropolitan area. In addition, the material has also been collected through a pre-sent tuning task. The material has been analyzed by research questions using qualitative content analysis, both deductively and inductively. The material consists of a total of six primary school teacher interviews and tuning assignments. Teachers perceived cultural diversity in the group not only as wealth but also as a challenge. Teachers said that they use different teaching methods to support the group's joint activities and the students' academic success. According to the teachers, the individual support of the student was strong. However, some teachers felt that their cultural competence was weak, and that meeting diversity was challenging. Cultural diversity was often associated with immigration or foreign language. According to the teachers, the development of critical thinking skills was limited. The students' own cultural backgrounds and the power exercised by the students in teaching were mainly manifested in teacher-led assignments or discussions. Based on this research, the competence of teachers in multicultural education should be developed. Based on this study, genuine student active participation in teaching is also still lacking.