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Pygmalions, Galateans and Golemsi: Why pre-service teacher beliefs about children
from diverse backgrounds (still) matter
David Zyngier1
Faculty of Education, Monash University
This research is located within the call for schools to raise the achievement of students from
culturally, linguistically and economically diverse (CLED) backgrounds. It combines
quantitative and qualitative research methodologies to compare and contrast pre-service
teachers’ (PSTs) responses to ‘scenarios’ that explore beliefs regarding students from
disadvantaged communities. Demographic data is used to determine an innovative Cultural
Capital Index, while qualitative responses are coded on a continuum of Cultural
Responsiveness to establish and analyse pre-service teachers’ beliefs. This paper finds that
many PSTs hold deficit attitudes regarding disadvantaged groups of students that may render
these teachers unable and subconsciously unwilling to affect a system in need of reform.
Keywords: Teacher beliefs, teacher education, diversity, social justice, transformative pedagogies
Introduction
Pre-service teachers are insiders. They need not redefine their situation. The classrooms of the
colleges of education, and the people and practices in them, differ little from classrooms and
people they have known for years. Thus, the reality of their everyday lives may continue
unaffected by higher education, as may their beliefs. … Students become teachers unable, and
subconsciously unwilling, to affect a system in need of reform. (Pajares, 1992, p. 323)
This paper is part of an ongoing project that examines how issues of diversity are understood by pre-
service teachers (PSTs), and how these this may contribute to the school disaffection of culturally,
linguistically and economically diverse (CLED) children. The project combines empirical quantitative
and qualitative research methodologies to compare and contrast educator beliefs about CLED children
and their families. The aim is to develop more effective teacher education and professional development
programs that have a ‘stickability factor’ (Claxton, 2004; Crick, 2007; Fraser, 1967) in an effort to ensure
that these educators remain or become more culturally responsive and thus potentially reduce
disaffection and increase student engagement.
Research on Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) suggests (Causey, Thomas, & Armento, 2000) that even at
the end of their preparation they are entering the classroom with ‘attitudes that are not conducive to
working with children’ (Weisman & Garza, 2002, p. 33) from CLED communities. Other research
indicates deficit beliefs about CLED students and their families lead to lower teacher expectations and
blame (Valencia, 1997). Given the difficulty in changing beliefs (Bandura, 1982; Bruner, 1996) it is no
surprise that many in-service teachers continue to have deficit beliefs about children (Lingard et al.,
2001).
1 Corresponding author: david.zyngier@monash.edu.au
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Conceptual Framework and Literature Review
It has been widely demonstrated since Rosenthal and Jacobsen’s classic Pygmalion in the Classroom (1991)
that teacher expectations have significant impact on student achievement (Babad, et al., 1982; Rubie-
Davies, Hattie & Hamilton, 2006). Teacher expectation effects may be categorised as sustaining
expectation effects or self-fulfilling prophecy effects (Cooper, 1985; Cooper & Good, 1983; Good &
Brophy, 2003). Sustaining expectation effects occur when teachers expect students to continue to act or
perform according to previously established patterns and may disregard contradictory evidence of change
(Cooper & Good, 1983; Good & Brophy, 2003). Self-fulfilling prophecy effects occur when
unsubstantiated beliefs lead to expectation fulfilment (Weinstein, 2002) and that alter student
performance in some way (Jussim, 1989). Hence, self-fulfilling prophecies create change in student
performance, whereas sustaining expectations thwart the potential for any change (Good, 1987).
The research literature has named the undesirable and negative self-fulfilling prophecy as Golem
effectsii which are the result of low teacher expectations that impede student academic achievement.
Galatea effectsiii, on the other hand, are desirable and positive effects, which are the result of high teacher
expectations that augment student academic achievement (Babad et al., 1982; Rubie-Davies, et al., 2006).
Findings by Tom, Cooper and McGraw (2004) demonstrate that consistent with predictions, better
educational outcomes and job status can be influenced by teacher perceptions of class ethnicity and
gender. Significantly individual differences among teachers can predict how teachers will behave towards
students for whom they hold varying expectations (Department of Education and the Arts, 2004, p. 264).
Rubie-Davies et al., (2006) suggest that the complex interrelationship between poverty, gender, ethnicity
and indigeneity can often mean that it ‘is less social ethnicity and more social class that influences
teacher expectations’ (Rubie-Davies, et al., 2006, p. 434). This can lead to historical ignorance or the non-
awareness of ‘the presence and operation in everyday life’ (Gresson III, 1997, p. 336) or the naturalness
and inevitability of different outcomes. Giroux suggests that too often these everyday life issues have been
‘removed from the discourse of educational change’ (Chávez & O'Donnell, 1998, p. 136).
Teacher beliefs about their own abilities and about the children in their care critically influence
student outcomes for all children, but especially for those from CLED families. However, Vartuli (2005)
suggests that culturally aware teachers base their actions on a system of beliefs that determine how they
respond to classroom issues, while Pajares (1992) differentiates between teacher beliefs that are based on
subjective evaluation and teacher knowledge that is objectively formed from facts that are ‘often implicit
and unarticulated’ (Vartuli, 2005, p. 76). Whether PST beliefs about pedagogy may be derived from
earlier experiences in life and their own schooling (Cockrell, Placier, Cockrell & Middleton, 1999), it has
been suggested that PSTs seemed to possess beliefs that mirrored second graders and remain unchanged
throughout pre-service education (Murphy, Delli & Edwards, 2004). Garmon (1992) argues that ‘if
students are not dispositionally ‘ready’ to receive the instruction and experiences presented to them, even
the best-designed teacher preparation programs may be ineffective in developing appropriate
multicultural awareness and sensitivity’ (p. 212).
University education generally influences individuals to hold coherent and rational beliefs that guide
subsequent behaviour, especially the reflective practices encouraged in PST education (Rosenfeld &
Rosenfeld, 2008; Walkington, 2005). It has also been suggested however that fieldwork experience,
especially the views of supervising teachers have greater influence than lecturers and courses studied,
including student reading and research (Kagan, 1992). While acknowledging the tendency for in-service
teacher beliefs to be influenced by the school culture and practice so that their own practices ‘gravitate to
the common practices of the school’ (Vartuli, 2005, p. 82), research (Garcia & Guerra, 2004; Nelson &
Guerra, 2007; Taylor & Sobel, 2001) supports the view that pre-service coursework and in-service
professional development can indeed have significant impact on teacher beliefs (Barry & Lechner, 1995).
The implication for this research is that inconsistency between PSTs’ beliefs and practice must be
3
examined, discussed and reflected on if often unconsciously held assumptions about children are to be
changed (Brock, Moore & Parks, 2007). Teacher education programs therefore need to directly ‘address
the beliefs of teachers because teacher beliefs are important in understanding [their own] classroom
practice’ (Vartuli, 2005, p. 84).
Methodology and Study Design
The reliance of teachers, both from within and outside of communities of disadvantage, on personal
beliefs in place of professional knowledge is well documented in the research literature, especially when
dealing with the education of minority and marginalised children. Research has demonstrated that
teachers from the same communities often adopt these same attitudes from the dominant perspectives
(Weisman & Garza, 2002). As such, research on PSTs should provide educators with important
information to help reconstruct and reconfigure our teaching curriculum and programs. The current
longitudinal project seeks to understand the impact (if any) on such beliefs of PSTs to ideas that
challenge this deficit approach over the course of their teacher preparation. This research uses (with
permission) a modified instrument for educational leaders (Guerra & Nelson, 2009; Wilson & Guerra,
2007). The instrument consists of a series about teaching in the classroom, building relationships with
students and families and working with colleagues (see Appendix 1 for a summary). All the scenarios
were developed from actual events reported by previous students or the researchers’ work in the field.
These scenarios have already been tested for validity with in-service teachers and academics in Australia.
For this study we surveyed PSTs (N=62 out of 200) in their second and third years of the four year
Bachelor of Primary Education at one of the largest universities in Australia, to identify their beliefs
about CLED students and their families.iv The data was collected anonymously. A significant innovation
to the original instrument developed by Nelson and Guerra (2007) was the collection of demographic
data to derive a Cultural Capital Index (CCI). This enabled the comparison of PSTs’ ethnicity, class and
social and cultural capital (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1990) in relation to responses to the qualitative section
responses to eight scenarios. PSTs were asked to read each scenario and write an extended response and
to state what was happening in the scenario and then what would they do. The scenarios were designed
to be not specific to any one group of students but would elicit responses indicative of whether the
beliefs and actions of the PST were demonstrative of deficit attitudes. The scenariosv covered the
following topics relating to diversity:
-----Insert Figure 1 Here-----
Completed instruments were collected, transcribed and analysed using SPSS to cross tabulate
demographic data with both individual scenario responses and a more generalised Cultural Capital Index
(CCI) derived from demographic data for each respondent. The coding of the respondent’s beliefs about
cultural understanding and application of cultural knowledge was based on a rubric developed, trialled
and evaluated by Nelson and Guerra (2007). Responses were double blind peer evaluated on a Likert
type continuum of cultural awareness.vi The respondent’s total for each of the eight scenarios was totalled
and then averaged to derive a score on the Continuum of Cultural Awareness (Nelson & Guerra, 2007).
Future research will be compared and contrasted over the period of the pre-service teaching course
between and across student groups based on the CCI of respondents.
-----Insert Figure 2 Here-----
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It is important to note that in contrast to the original Texas study that was administered at the beginning
of a diversity training program where ‘the educators were predisposed to discuss culture or some aspect of
diversity when responding’ (Nelson & Guerra, 2007, p. 8), this study was administered to participants as
part of the weekly tutorial program at the beginning of their course without any direct link being made to
diversity.
Findings
The typical characteristics of Australian PSTs are white, female and middle class (Causey, et al., 2000)
and are not dissimilar to their composition in the USA and other Western capitalist countries, but their
future classrooms will likely be much more diverse (Giroux, 2001; Pallas, Natriello & McDill, 1989;
Zeichner, 1996). This diversity in the classroom may be found in some student teaching settings but not
in others (Knoblauch & Hoy, 2008). This research identified that 33% of the respondents’ beliefs and
attitudes of PSTs are based on deficit conceptions of CLED communities – that is they had no or little
awareness of cultural implications in the scenarios. In contrast only 16% of the respondents showed that
they were either culturally aware (CA) or culturally responsive (CR). This is in contrast to the findings of
the research from Texas (Nelson & Guerra, 2007) with experienced educators and administrators that
indicated a much lower level of CA of less than 4%. This possibly points to the initial effectiveness (or
not) of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in breaking down such stereotypes, but that it lacks in stickability
(Fraser, 1967).
These results when cross-tabulated with demographic data, indicate that the reliance of PSTs,
both from within and without communities of difference, on personal beliefs in place of professional
knowledge is reflected in the research, especially when dealing with the education of CLED children. We
find that there is a strong correlation between certain respondent demographic data and Cultural
Responsiveness; PSTs with more cultural capital have greater cultural responsiveness than those who
have less cultural capital. All statistical analyses were undertaken using SPSS 16.0 for Windows. Prior to
conducting bivariate correlational analyses, all variables were examined for accuracy of data entry, missing
values, and fit between their distributions and their requisite assumptions for multiple regression
analyses. No patterns were identified in the missing data and it was determined that missing values were
randomly dispersed among the variables. Missing data in the regression analyses were treated using list-
wise deletion of cases. Figure 3 presents the means and standard deviations for all variables.
-----Insert Figure 3 Here-----
Zero-order correlations were analysed in order to garner a preliminary understanding of the pattern of
relationships among the variables in the analysis. Figure 4 presents the correlations.
-----Insert Figure 4 Here-----
With the exception of scenario 7, none of the scenarios significantly correlated with Cultural Capital Index
(CCI). Both father’s cultural capital (r = .25) and mother’s cultural capital (r = .33) individually
significantly correlated with scenario 7, resulting in a significant correlation between this scenario and
total cultural capital (r = .37). This scenario depicted class by discussing the value parents place on
education. Although Scenario 3, which also considers issues relating to class, did not significantly
correlate with the CCI, it did significantly correlate with father’s cultural capital (r = .28). Considering
both scenarios related to a child’s perceived class showed some significant correlations with cultural
5
capital, it would suggest that knowledge and awareness regarding class values and structure is related to
the skill and education level of one’s parents.
Respondent Education (Secondary) negatively correlated (r = - .27) with Scenario 2, which reflected
knowledge of Indigenous issues. Participants who went to Catholic or Independent schoolsvii during their
secondary years (14-18 years of age) displayed little knowledge of Indigenous issues. This suggests that
students who attend public government schools may have a greater knowledge of Indigenous issues than
those students attending Catholic of private schools do. This needs to be confirmed.
The strongest correlation can be seen between scenarios 1 and 2 (r = .56). Scenario 1 discussed issues
regarding refugees and Scenario 2 discussed Indigenous issues. The strong correlation suggests that if
participants were aware of issues regarding refugees, they also showed strong awareness of Indigenous
issues, and vice versa. Scenario 4, which discussed the celebration of Christmas, significantly correlated
with all the other scenarios. If a person was culturally aware of any of the other topics, they showed they
also would be aware about issues involved with the celebration of Christmas in secular multi-cultural and
multi-religion schools. This suggests that most of the PSTs had some knowledge of the issues regarding
celebrating Christmas in secular schools and it appears to be the lowest common denominator of cultural
awareness for this representative sample of PSTs. Of note is that while only 10% of the sample was male
(6 of N=62) this is representative of the whole male to female ratio enrolled, none of these figured in
either the lowest or highest groups of the CRI. This also needs to be further explored in the larger and
fuller samples.
-----Insert Figure 5 Here-----
-----Insert Figure 6 Here-----
Using the qualitative analysis we found that just over 50% of respondents are below 3 on the CRI.
Significantly on scenarios that related less to cultural and linguistic differences and more with economic
difference the respondents were much less culturally aware, while a scenario specifically designed to
assess awareness of Indigenous Australian children indicated significantly higher cultural responsiveness
(over 60%) with an average CRI, but a scenario specifically challenging the hegemony of Christmas
found only 14% of respondents with a lack of cultural responsiveness. The highest lack of cultural
responsiveness was associated with issues involving recently arrived African refugees. Other research has
demonstrated that teachers from the same communities often adopt these same attitudes from the
dominant perspectives (Weisman & Garza, 2002) and this issue will require further data analysis to
determine whether this effect is in fact in evidence here.
Limitations of the Study
There is a growing body of research examining conceptual change processes and the impact of
ontological and epistemic beliefs on students' naive conceptions and misconceptions. To what extent did
these deficit beliefs discussed in this paper reflect a negative or malicious intent or were the result of lack
of previous opportunities to discuss and reflect on these topics is an important issue that remains to be
considered. A more detailed elaboration of these perspectives is required to deepen the interpretation of
results as part of the broader project.
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Discussion
The Culturally Aware PSTs were able to use additive explanations to describe the issues in each scenario
as a result or the influence of a hidden cultural conflict or dilemma. In these scenarios examined in
detail in this paper, these PSTs expressed pluralistic beliefs while resiling from explicit deficit notions,
which appeared to allow participants to provide specific, culturally responsive solutions to the scenarios.
Culturally Unaware PSTs however do not mention culture in any form to explain the possibility of the
issues in the scenarios. In these cases, participants attributed subtractive or deficit understandings to
students’ or their families’ lack of skills or understanding, or they attributed the clashes to personality
differences or lack of effective parental behaviours. Participants also expressed a number of negative
(harsh) deficit beliefs––in other words, they viewed culturally, linguistically and economically diverse
students/families as the problems.
Gay (2002, p. 106) argues for ‘culturally responsive teaching,’ which she defines as teaching that uses the
‘cultural characteristics, experiences, and perspectives of ethnically diverse students as conduits for
teaching them more effectively’. To move beyond the surface level and really work to both understand
and teach culturally appropriate information, teachers have to engage in important developmental
exercises. Teachers must, first, examine their own cultural values to uncover any biases that could
hamper teaching and learning. Second, they should become familiar with the types of cultural values
students are learning at home so that they can better understand how these values might affect students’
academic achievement (Sloan, 2008). This is critical because longitudinal research demonstrates that
teachers who form an initial (unwarranted) expectation about a student transmit their expectation to the
student through the verbal (and nonverbal) cues that they emit. Teachers’ expectations about the
competence of the student have an effect on their student’s performance. Teachers’ behaviour is clearly
affected by the expectations that they hold about their students (Feldman & Theiss, 1982). This halo
effect (Brophy, 1983) can lead to distortions in teacher expectations and the teachers’ tendency to be
susceptible or unsusceptible to stereotypically biasing information. This means a school student is more
likely to be nominated by their Culturally Unaware teachers into the high achievement expectancy group
if the student is of higher socioeconomic status, mainstream cultural background and dominant language
group. Culturally Unaware and Culturally Aware teachers differ in the ways they perceive their students and
assess their students’ potential (Babad, et al., 1982) based on generalised stereotypic bias of their
perceptions of their students’social class, linguistic abilty and cultural background.
Conclusion
This study shows that deficit thinking still permeates society; and that teachers mirror these beliefs. Pre-
service teacher education in diversity is not just for mainstream educators; intercultural communication
pervades the message systems of education; cultural sensitivity and awareness do not necessarily result in
equity practices by teachers; and continuous teacher education must ‘systematically and explicitly link
equity knowledge to classroom practices’ (Garcia & Guerra, 2004, p. 154). This ongoing research will
enable comparison and contrast between significantly different teacher groups over time, place and space
because it focuses on the changes (if any) of PSTs’ beliefs about student diversity over the time of their
study and fieldwork experience, both within our University and internationally. Teachers’ expectations
about the competence of the student have an effect on their student’s performance. Teachers’ behaviour
is also clearly affected by the expectations that they hold about their students (Feldman & Theiss, 1982).
Nespor’s (1987) study concluded that the preferred response requires:
…trying to change or shape prospective teachers’ beliefs by helping them to become
reflective and self-conscious of their [stereotypical] beliefs … However this can result in the
7
transformation of teachers’ beliefs and practices only if alternative or new beliefs are
available to replace the old. (Nespor, 1987, p. 326).
The implication for this research is that inconsistency between PSTs’ beliefs and practice must be
examined and discussed and reflected on if often unconsciously held assumptions about children are to
be changed (Brock, Moore, & Parks, 2007). Teacher education programs therefore need to directly
‘address the beliefs of teachers because teacher beliefs are important in understanding [their own]
classroom practice’ (Vartuli, 2005, p. 84). This work adds to the body of knowledge related to educator
beliefs about children from diverse backgrounds but future research is needed to provide evidence that
such beliefs can be changed through exposure to teaching on diversity. The research provides evidence
that such beliefs need to be well understood, then unpacked before being challenged in teacher
education programs. The efficacy of such exposure and its outcomes in relation to changing attitudes and
beliefs of graduate teachers will be addressed in a subsequent paper.
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Appendix A
Scenario#1: First Days of School
During a staff meeting, a group of elementary teachers discuss what to do about African refugee parents
walking their children into classrooms and not leaving when the bell goes.
Scenario#2: The Shrine
During a trip to the Shrine a curator reports to you that a group of Indigenous students are running
through the displays and informs you they must leave. The students deny running but say they were
trying to find stories about black soldiers.
Scenario#3: Doing homework
You give instructions for completing homework. Johnny says he can’t do the homework tonight because
he has to do the shopping and cooking.
Scenario#4: Christmas
On the last day of the school year, a teacher thought she would have some fun with the class and let
them relax with a Christmas activity that required the children to draw the exciting things they do during
Christmas.
Scenario#5: Eating Well
Some parents from Asian backgrounds do not follow the recommended nutrition plan for their child
that was taught by you in accord with the healthy eating program.
Scenario#6: Faculty Meeting
During a faculty meeting the principal asks you how to get “migrant” parents involved in their children’s
education.
Scenario#7: Staffroom
Teachers in the staffroom are discussing a student’s lack of progress – one teacher suggests that the
problem is that the parents don’t value education. What is your response?
Scenario#8: Teaching multiculturalism
A few primary teachers decide that they will encourage students in their class to learn about Asian
culture. They have decided to start the unit off by taking the students to lunch at a local Chinese
restaurant.
10
Appendix B
Coding Rubric for Cultural Awareness
Unaware––no mention of culture in any form to explain the culture clashes in the instrument. In many
cases, participants attributed the clashes in the scenarios to students' lack of skills or understanding. In
other cases they attributed the clashes to personality differences, lack of effective instruction (e.g., unclear
directions) on the part of teacher. Participants also expressed a number of negative (harsh) deficit beliefs–
–in other words they viewed culturally, linguistically and economically diverse students/families as the
problems
Little Awareness of Culture--generally mentioned "culture" might be the source of the clash in 1 or 2 of
the scenarios that dealt with the more visible aspects of culture like food/diet, holidays, language but did
not give a culturally responsive solution. In many cases, they just used the word "culture" with no
explanation of how culture was affecting the clash. Participants expressed a number of deficit beliefs that
were harsh/negative.
General Awareness of Culture––Participants could generally explain that culture was at work in several
of the scenarios that dealt with the more visible aspects of culture plus less visible influences such as
family structure (nuclear family vs. extended family) and were able to provide a solution that addressed
these visible aspects of culture (i.e., ask parents about the foods eaten at home) but again only to those
scenarios that dealt with the visible aspects of culture (e.g., diet, family structure). Participants expressed
deficit beliefs but were somewhat less harsh
Culturally Aware––In most scenarios participants could explain that the clashes were due to influence of
hidden culture, most beliefs expressed were pluralistic which allowed participants to provide culturally
responsive solutions to several of the scenarios (3-4; not all) but the participants still expressed a deficit
belief in one of the scenarios but deficit belief was less negative than those expressed in the previous 3
categories. Knew culture was at work in most of the scenarios but explanation was more general in nature
than those used by participants who were identified as culturally responsive.
Culturally Responsive––Participants were able to explain the clash in each scenario was due to the
influence of hidden culture. In most scenarios they specifically explained the actions of the characters in
the scenario using culture and specific terminology such as individualism and collectivism, although use
of the terms such as individualism or collectivism was not the discriminating factor only if they explained
the actions of the characters using culture. Participants in this category expressed pluralistic beliefs and
no deficit ones, which appeared to allow participants to provide specific, culturally responsive solutions
to almost all of the scenarios.
Used with permission from Nelson, S., & Guerra, P. (2007). What do educators believe and why does it
matter?
11
Figure 1: Scenario Topic Areas
Scenario number & title Area of diversity
1. First Days of School
Awareness of refugee issues and rights
2. The War Memorial
Teacher expectations of/for Indigenous
children
3.
Doing Homework Teacher expectations vs. Family expectations
– socio economic class
4.
End of Year Activities Religion - are Christmas activities
appropriate in a pluralist multicultural
society?
5.
Eating Well Teacher knowledge vs. Family culture -
Teacher assumptions regarding health
practices of students and their families
6. Faculty Meeting
Staff expectations vs. Parental involvement
– Multiculturalism
7.
Staffroom Parental values – socio-economic class
8.
Teaching Multiculturalism Celebrations and Food - Asian stereotypes
Figure 2: Coding Rubric: Continuum of Cultural Awareness (Wilson & Guerra, 2007, p. 7)
Culturally
Unaware-
deficit
1
Little Cultural
Awareness
2
General
Awareness –
pluralistic
3
Culturally
Aware
4
Culturally
Responsive -
deep
understanding
5
Figure-2 Coding Rubric: Continuum of Cultural Awareness (Wilson & Guerra, 2007, p. 7)
12
Figure 3: Means and Standard Deviations for all Variables (N=62).
Variables
Mean
Standard Deviation
Age
21.1
1.0418
Respondent Education: Primary
1.2903
0.5836
Respondent Education Secondary
1.6774
0.8449
Scenario 1
2.7742
1.5932
Scenario 2
3.3226
1.6173
Scenario 3
2.6613
1.4136
Scenario 4
3.5323
1.1554
Scenario 5
2.9839
1.6742
Scenario 6
3.0968
1.3992
Scenario 7
2.9355
1.6081
Scenario 8
2.7581
1.6859
Father’s Cultural Capital
6.7581
2.6345
Mother’s Cultural Capital
7.4194
2.5256
Total Cultural Capital
14.177
4.0388
Cultural Awareness
3.0081
0.96
13
Figure 4: Zero-Order Correlations between all Variables.
Variable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
1 Age -
2 Respondent Education Primary -.09 -
3 Respondent Education
Secondary
-.01 .43** -
4 Scenario 1 .02 .21 -.03 -
5 Scenario 2 .03 .02 -.27* .46*
* -
6 Scenario 3 -.05 .04 -.04 .29* .23 -
7 Scenario 4 .02 .06 -.02 .41*
*
.43*
*
.33*
*
-
8 Scenario 5 .07 -.08 -.17 .32 * .41*
*
.29* .34*
*
-
9 Scenario 6 .14 -.02 -.06 .16 .28* .40** .39*
*
.42*
*
-
10 Scenario 7 .09 -.09 -.10 .07 0.20 .38*
*
.30* .27* .43*
*
-
11 Scenario 8 .18 -.18 -.22 .05 .32* .23 .39*
*
.38*
*
.33*
*
.28* -
12 Father’s Cultural Capital -.13 .06 .18 -.17 -.03 .28* -.07 -.09 .12 .25* .06 -
13 Mother’s Cultural Capital -.11 .06 -.01 .15 .18 0.06 -.04 .09 .08 .33** .16 .23 -
14 Total Cultural Capital -.15 .08 .11 -.02 .10 .22 -.07 .00 .13 .37** .14 .79** .77** -
14
15 Cultural Awareness .10 -.01 -.19 .57** .69** .61** .68** .69** .66** .58** .60** .07 .22 .18 -
Note: * = significant at p < .05; ** = significant at p < .01; *** = significant at p < .001.
15
Figure 5: Descriptive Statistics for each Scenario (Note that where N is less than 62 it
indicates non responses – these were excluded from analysis)
N=
Range
Minimu
m
Maximu
m
Sum
Mean
Std.
Deviation
Scenario 1
62
4
1
5
172
2.77
1.593
Scenario 2
60
4
1
5
206
3.43
1.796
Scenario 3
62
4
1
5
165
2.66
1.414
Scenario 4
62
4
1
5
219
3.53
1.155
Scenario 5
62
4
1
5
185
2.98
1.674
Scenario 6
58
4
1
5
192
3.31
1.809
Scenario 7
60
4
1
5
182
3.03
1.850
Scenario 8
57
4
1
5
171
3.00
2.208
Valid N
(listwise)
62
Figure 6: Cultural Responsiveness Index (CRI)
16
i Pygmalion refer [s] to the effects of the self-fulfilling prophecy or interpersonal expectations in the
classroom. …Differential expectancy effects [are] a function of teachers' susceptibility to biasing
information and at distinguishing between positive (Galatea effects) and negative (Golem effects)
outcomes of teacher expectancies. (Babad, Inbar, & Rosenthal, 1982)
ii For example, the belief that working class children as a result of parent attitudes do not value academic
education.
iii For example, the belief that Asian students are a model minority that are hardworking respectful and
demonstrate superior academic abilities in mathematics.
iv Subsequently we have surveyed at the very beginning of their course volunteers from the entire cohorts of
first year students (N=124 out of 140), third year students (N=51 out of 70), Graduate Diploma students
(N=73 out of 80) and primary school teachers and school leaders working in schools identified as having
significant numbers of CLED background students (N=150). These surveys were administered
electronically though Survey Monkey and encouraged respondents to write more descriptive and longer
responses.
v See Appendix A for details of scenarios.
vi See Appendix for descriptive Rubric
vii Australia has one of the most privatised education systems in the OECD. In Australia, Catholic and
Independent account for almost one third of students nationally. In the sample studies (N=62), 12 (20%)
attended Catholic and 15 (25%) attended Independent schools. Source: ABS Schools Australia 1993 -
2008 (publication no. 4221.0)
