Teachers’ attitudes toward multiculturalism and their perceptions of the school organizational culture

Abstract

The study examines teachers’ attitudes toward multiculturalism and the extent to which these are related to their perceptions of the school organizational culture. Results based on the responses of 442 teachers, working at 34 Israeli schools, revealed that pluralistic attitudes were higher when referring to the integration of immigrants from the former Soviet Union into the general society, whereas assimilationist attitudes were more predominant when related to the approach toward immigrants in educational contexts. It was also found that teachers’ attitudes toward multiculturalism in schools are related to components at the various levels of their perceived school organizational culture. Implications for pre-service and in-service training of teachers in culturally plural societies are discussed.