Examining Mathematics Teachers' Perception Toward Multicultural Education: Teachers' Noticing of Multicultural Contents in Mathematics Textbooks

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine mathematics teachers’ perceptions of multicultural education. To achieve this goal, the study explored how 10 elementary mathematics teachers noticed multicultural content in a mathematics textbook. Building upon noticing framework (Jacobs, Lamb, & Philipp, 2010), we first examined teachers’ attention toward multicultural content in a mathematics textbook. Then, we examined teachers’ interpretation of the content. We employed a content analysis approach to examine the collected data. The results indicated that most mathematics teachers held a content integration perspective. Their view was that “multicultural education” referred to learning about the diverse cultures of different countries. Moreover, although they noticed some multicultural content in the textbook, they wanted to discuss them in superficially descriptive ways and avoid talking about social justice issues. Additionally, some teachers believed that mathematics is a culture-free subject. They argued that multicultural content should not be presented in mathematics textbooks. We also discussed uncommon themes, which were reported by only a few mathematics teachers.