Perspectives on multiperspectivity: self-efficacy of master’s student teachers in Belgium towards multiperspectivity in the classroom

Abstract

ABSTRACT This study investigates pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy and attitudes towards multiperspectivity in education. The sample is representative of postgraduate teacher education students in Flanders, the northern and largest region of Belgium, which has evolved into a migratory society with city life characterised by superdiversity. The capital Brussels and two Flemish cities have already evolved into majority-minority cities. A written survey was conducted at four universities in Flanders and Brussels, investigating the degree of familiarity with and views on ethnic diversity. Knowledge about and (readiness for) practical applications of multiperspectivity was also investigated. This study demonstrates that growing up in an urban environment is a good predictor of pre-service teachers’ familiarity with ethnic diversity in education. Moreover, students training a subject from the Humanities score significantly higher on theoretical knowledge of multiperspectivity. Familiarity with ethnic diversity is also a good predictor of the application of a multiperspectivist approach in teaching practice. Since the greater part of Flemish master’s student teachers did not grow up in large cities and are not majoring in humanities subjects, teacher education should pay sufficient attention to multiperspectivity so that all can acquire sufficient theoretical and practical knowledge to thrive in 21st-century classrooms.