Отношение российских учителей к культурному разнообразию в трудных педагогических ситуациях: опыт качественного анализа

Abstract

Student-related cultural diversity is a phenomenon that characterizes most Russian schools. Intercultural interaction between teachers and students is discussed in the article from the perspective of the model called “Diversity in Organizations: Perception and Approaches” developed by M. Tatar and G. Gorenchik. The purpose of the study was to investigate the content of the ideas of Russian teachers about cultural diversity in the educational environment in the context of solving difficult pedagogical situations when interacting with children of migrants belonging to different cultures. The hypothesis of the study was the assumption that meaningfully different approaches to understanding cultural diversity in the educational environment constitute the interrelated integrated system of views, and their manifestation is largely related to how a teacher copes with difficult pedagogical situations when working with children belonging to other cultures and their parents. To achieve this goal, we chose the qualitative research method, which allows us to focus on the analysis of the respondent’s personal experience. The study was carried out in the format of in-depth interviews involving 6 teachers, who were females, aged 34 to 55 years, living in Moscow, Voronezh region and the Komi Republic. The interview transcripts were analysed using a phenomenological approach. It was established that Russian teachers used all four approaches to assessing cultural differences: Problem, Challenge, Resource and Indifference. It was shown that within different contexts, in different difficult situations, the same teacher could demonstrate a different attitude towards cultural characteristics of migrants’ children belonging to a foreign culture. It was established that cultural differences were the focus of the teacher’s attention in the situation of their problematization, when they created difficult pedagogical situations in combination with bright external markers of the student’s cultural affiliation. The obtained results allow for more effective development of teachers’ professional practice and promote the perception of cultural diversity as a Challenge and/or Resource.