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The Impact of Teacher Perceptions on the Acculturation Strategies of Refugee-Immigrant Students

Oberhauser, Dan
http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1559036247619507

Abstract Details

2019, Doctor of Education (Educational Leadership), Youngstown State University, Department of Teacher Education and Leadership Studies.
The acculturation of refugee-immigrant students is a complex process. The acculturation strategies of refugee-immigrant students are dependent upon the dominant society’s acculturation expectations. There is ample research to support that refugee-immigrants prefer integration as an acculturation strategy (Berry, 2015). However, integration cannot be truly successful unless the dominant society promotes multiculturalism. The present study used a framework of the Mutual Intercultural Relations in Plural Societies (MIRIPS) and the Theories of Prejudice Scale to investigate the dominant society’s (teachers) attitudes about the acculturation of refugee-immigrant students (non-dominant group). The constructs investigated were acculturation expectations (multiculturalism, melting pot, segregation, exclusion), multicultural ideology, and the mindset (fixed or growth) towards the malleability of prejudice. The present study also investigated the relationships between these constructs. Online surveys were sent to the teachers of refugee-immigrant students from a midwestern public school district resulting in 50 participants. The findings revealed that participants in the study preferred the acculturation strategy of multiculturalism, had a positive multicultural ideology, and had a growth mindset towards the malleability of prejudice. Despite the high scores in these constructs, a Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient test found no statistical significance findings. This was due to the lack of variability in the responses, as all respondents had high scores in multiculturalism, multicultural ideology, and growth mindset. However, findings also revealed a strong relationship between multicultural ideology and the acculturation strategies of melting pot and segregation. The findings have implications to teacher professional development in multicultural education and future research. School districts with refugee-immigrant students can replicate this study to assess if teacher actions are reflective of their attitudes, as this study found that teachers could still have beliefs in acculturation subscales of melting pot and segregation despite a high score in multiculturalism. Future research should also be done to investigate a broader sample of teachers for more variability and to investigate the acculturation strategies of the refugee-immigrant student population. Surveying the students would show if the findings support the teachers’s high scores in acculturation expectations, multicultural ideology, and mindset towards the malleability of prejudice.
Jane Beese, PhD (Committee Chair)
Chuck Vergon, JD (Committee Member)
Patrick Spearman, PhD (Committee Member)
Xin Liang, PhD (Committee Member)
114 p.
Cultural Anthropology; Multicultural Education; Teacher Education
acculturation; refugee-immigrant students; dominant society; acculturation expectations; multiculturalism; melting pot; segregation; exclusion; acculturation strategies; integration; multicultural ideology; mindset; malleability of prejudice

Recommended Citations

Citations

  • Oberhauser, D. (2019). The Impact of Teacher Perceptions on the Acculturation Strategies of Refugee-Immigrant Students [Doctoral dissertation, Youngstown State University]. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1559036247619507

    APA Style (7th edition)

  • Oberhauser, Dan. The Impact of Teacher Perceptions on the Acculturation Strategies of Refugee-Immigrant Students. 2019. Youngstown State University, Doctoral dissertation. OhioLINK Electronic Theses and Dissertations Center, http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1559036247619507.

    MLA Style (8th edition)

  • Oberhauser, Dan. "The Impact of Teacher Perceptions on the Acculturation Strategies of Refugee-Immigrant Students." Doctoral dissertation, Youngstown State University, 2019. http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=ysu1559036247619507

    Chicago Manual of Style (17th edition)

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This open access ETD is published by Youngstown State University and OhioLINK.