Student Teachers’ Perceptions of Multicultural Education Based on Their Social Media Use

Dr Nesrin Hark Söylemez,Prof Dr Behçet Oral

doi:10.22158/jecs.v4n1p103

Abstract

Social media, together with the technological advances, bring a different dimension to the intercultural communication and shape the cultural perspectives and perceptions of individuals. It is seen as an important requirement that student teachers, who will take responsibility for the educational processes that include different cultural structures, should be sensitive to and informed about cultural differences. Therefore, it is necessary to examine the effects of using social media environments on student teachers’ perceptions regarding different cultures. This paper evaluates the perceptions of student teachers regarding multicultural education with respect to their use of social media environments. The study was carried out with 2152 senior student teachers from the education faculties of 10 state universities from each geographical region of Turkey in the fall semester of 2016-2017 academic year. In the study, inferential statistical approach was used to analyze the collected data. The results of the study indicated that the student teachers’ perceptions regarding the outcomes of multicultural education showed a statistically significant difference in terms of their purpose of using social media sites. In addition, the student teachers’ perceptions regarding the influence of university education on multicultural education showed a statistically significant difference in terms of the most frequently used social media site, while their perceptions regarding equality and justice showed a statistically significant difference with respect to the most frequently used social media site as well as with respect to the purpose of using social media sites.

Highlights

In this era, known as the information age or the digital age, communication technologies have developed rapidly and become an indispensable part of human life
This paper evaluates the perceptions of student teachers regarding multicultural education with respect to their use of social media environments
As a result of the study, it was found that the top usage purpose of social media sites was an effective variable for the student teachers’ perceptions with respect to the results of multicultural education

Summary

Introduction

Known as the information age or the digital age, communication technologies have developed rapidly and become an indispensable part of human life. Considering the fact that social media is considered to be a shaping factor from a cultural perspective due to its influence on everyday life (Kılıç, 2015) and is becoming a factor affecting individuals and the society in different ways (Banks, 2009), multiculturalism and multicultural education should be examined whether they differ depending on the use of these environments. Within the scope of this research, the perceptions of the student teachers regarding multicultural education were examined in terms of their usages of social media sites in general as well as with respect to the social media site they used. The following research questions were directed: Do student teachers’ perceptions regarding the “outcomes of multicultural education” show a statistically significant difference in terms of duration of membership to social media sites, the total number of friends on social media sites, the most frequently used social media site and the purpose of using social media sites? Do student teachers’ perceptions regarding the “impact of university education on multicultural education” show a statistically significant difference in terms of duration of membership to social media sites, the total number of friends on social media sites, the most frequently used social media site and the purpose of using social media sites? Do student teachers’ perceptions regarding “justice and equality” show a statistically significant difference in terms of duration of membership to social media sites, the total number of friends on social media sites, the most frequently used social media site and the purpose of using social media sites?

Objectives

Methods

Results