Abstract

In private schools in Jordan many teachers attempt to expose students to various cultures, however the question is how do they do so, and is the teacher's approach effective? In homogeneous environments students do not have the opportunity to interact with other students from diverse ethnic backgrounds. Therefore, it is important to address this situation of how to introduce and expose students to the various cultures of the world. Another question is how can multiculturalism be implemented in such classrooms, and how can teachers become more aware of what multiculturalism entails in order to constructively convey it to the students. This study is centered on a homogeneous private school in Amman, the capital city of Jordan, in the Middle East. This school is considered one of the most liberal, innovative, and educationally advanced schools in Amman. The intent of the study is to explore teachers' perceptions of multiculturalism, and to focus on the following questions: what is the meaning of multiculturalism based on a literature review, how do teachers at this private school define multiculturalism, and what do teachers consider to be discriminative attitudes in this private school? Finally, a proposal for a developmental program for improving multicultural awareness for teachers to transmit to their students is presented.