Teachers’ Conceptions of Borderless – A Cross-Cultural Study on Multicultural Sensitivity of the Chinese Teachers

Abstract

Teachers are normally trained to work effectively with one dominant culture. As such, they are poorly prepared to handle cultural differences; sometimes they simply define students from diverse culture and with learning difficulties as students at risk. This study reports a group of 100 Chinese in-service teachers’ attitudes of cultural difference with the use of the instrument, Cultural Diversity Awareness Inventory (CDAI). Using the results from the CDAI, the paper makes a cross-cultural comparison of attitudes of pre-service teachers in the West with those of teachers in Hong Kong (and with Confucian principles). The study is trying to understand: (1) the cultural sensitivity levels of Hong Kong teachers; (2) are the local Chinese teachers more culturally sensitive in some areas than in others? and (3) how are these teaching beliefs developed and different from the western study? The findings of this study demonstrated stereotypical feelings of the culturally diverse and educationally disadvantaged students from the local teachers are prevailing, but that there are some differences in cultural diversity awareness between the East and West.