Enhancing Teacher Self-Efficacy in Multicultural Classrooms and School Climate - The Role of Professional Development in Multicultural Education in the United States and South Korea

Oct 15, 2026

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Enhancing teacher self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms is examined through professional development in multicultural education (PDME) and its links to teachers’ multicultural teaching self-efficacy (TSMC) and perceived school climate. Using Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018, the study tests whether PDME experience improves TSMC and whether TSMC mediates the relationship between PDME and school climate in secondary schools across the United States and South Korea. Results show a significant positive relationship and a mediating role, suggesting PDME strengthens TSMC and promotes a more positive climate.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages17

Reading Time43 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Classroom Diversity and Teacher Efficacy

Professional Development in Multicultural Education (PDME)

Research Gap and Study Rationale

AERA Open October-December 2020, Vol. 6, No. 4, pp. 1–17 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858420973574 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2020. [http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Enhancing Teacher Self-Efficacy in Multicultural Classrooms and School Climate: The Role of Professional Development in Multicultural Education in the United States and South Korea Soobin Choi Se Woong Lee University of Missouri-Columbia The modern classroom is becoming increasingly diverse, with many countries seeking to develop teacher self-efficacy in multicultural classrooms (TSMC) to effectively teach diverse students by offering professional development in multicultural education (PDME). Using the Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018, we examine whether the teachers’ experience in PDME improves TSMC, as well as whether TSMC mediates the relationship between PDME and teachers’perceptions of school climate in secondary schools in the United States and South Korea. We find a significant positive relationship between PDME and TSMC and that TSMC plays a mediating role between PDME and school climate. The findings suggest that PDME not only plays a key role in enhancing TSMC but also promotes a positive school climate. Keywords: professional development, multicultural education, teacher education/development, teacher self-efficacy, school climate, comparative education Classrooms are becoming culturally, racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse. In 2018, more than half of U.S. students were non-White (52.5%), and such diversity continues to rise (Hussar & Bailey, 2019) . This trend is seen not only in the United States and other Western countries such as Germany and the Netherlands (Koehler & Schneider, 2019) but also in some Asian countries, such as South Korea (hereafter Korea), Japan, and Taiwan, where cultural homogeneity is a general demographic—though one recently challenged by globalization (McAuliffe & Ruhs, 2017; Parreñas & Kim, 2011) . Although classroom diversity allows teachers and students to have different perspectives and a rich learning opportunity (Banks et al., 2001), not all teachers are equipped with the efficacy of teaching students in multicultural classrooms in both Western and Asian countries (Castro, 2010; J. Kim & Jeon, 2017). In fact, teachers often teach according to their own cultural biases, with teacher preparation programs being far from successful when it comes to incorporating multicultural perspectives into their programs (Allen et al., 2017; Gorski, 2009; Sleeter, 2001) . Accordingly, in both Western and Asian countries, research has shown that students from marginalized groups, including students of color, second-language learner, and immigrant students, fall behind in terms of academic performance (Kirksey et al., 2020; Lin & Lu, 2016), high school graduation rates (Heckman & LaFontaine, 2010), access to postsecondary education (Lemmermann & Riphahn, 2018), and a feeling of belonging to country (S. Choi & Cha, 2019) . In order to better prepare teachers for teaching in diverse classrooms, professional development in multicultural education (PDME) is a useful and viable approach among educational leaders (Irvine, 2003; Molle, 2013) . In other words, in light of the increasing awareness of the diversity of students, cultural and ethnic gaps between students and teachers, and goals of instructional practices (Banks et al., 2001; Ladson-Billings, 1995), PDME has been used to help teachers reflect upon their teaching, grasp the cultural diversity of their students, synthesize the connection between teaching and learning, and promote inclusive learning environments among diverse students (Banks et al., 2001; Parkhouse et al., 2019). Although the features of these programs vary, PDMEis designed to help to develop teacher self-efficacy in mult

FAQs

What does the study investigate about PDME and teacher self-efficacy?

It examines whether teachers’ experience with professional development in multicultural education improves their multicultural teaching self-efficacy (TSMC).

How is school climate related to PDME in the research model?

The study tests whether TSMC mediates the relationship between PDME and teachers’ perceptions of school climate in secondary schools.

What data source and settings does the study use?

It uses the Teaching and Learning International Survey 2018 and focuses on secondary schools in the United States and South Korea.

Oct 15, 2026

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