Preschool teachers’ perspectives about diversity in nation-state country: a glimpse from Türkiye

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate preschool teachers' perspectives on diversity in the unique educational context of Türkiye, a nation-state often underrepresented in the predominantly Western-centric diversity literature.

Design/methodology/approach

Recognizing teachers as critical content integrators, the study involved semi-structured interviews to explore their views on diversity within early childhood education.

Findings

Analysis of the interviews revealed two key themes: first, the challenge of maintaining nation-state ideology, where teachers balance fostering a national identity with acknowledging diverse cultural backgrounds; and second, a willingness among educators to embrace diversity, highlighting their efforts to create inclusive, multicultural classrooms.

Practical implications

The authors call for developing context-specific teacher education programs addressing diversity in depth, equipping teachers to effectively promote context-specific multicultural education that would be different from Western countries.

Originality/value

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is original in researching preschool teachers’ understandings of multicultural education in a nation-state country.

Citation

Yigit Gencten, V. and Gultekin, M. (2024), "Preschool teachers’ perspectives about diversity in nation-state country: a glimpse from Türkiye", Journal for Multicultural Education, Vol. 18 No. 4, pp. 474-488. https://doi.org/10.1108/JME-04-2024-0041