Perceptions of compulsory education teachers about cultural diversity: A study in the city of Messina

Abstract

Ensuring inclusive education, which is one of the priorities of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, is not possible without teachers. Teachers' perceptions influence the way they organise and develop their professional activity and the commitment they ultimately give to cultural diversity in educational practice. In this paper, we study the perceptions about cultural diversity which are held by teachers working in compulsory education with Roma students in the Italian city of Messina. The study involved 182 teachers from four educational centres for primary education and the first grade of secondary education. It is a quantitative descriptive study in which a questionnaire has been used as the instrument to collect information. The results obtained highlight, among other issues, the fact that the teachers who were involved in the study favour theoretical and practical perspectives which encourage cultural diversity. In addition, they reveal that there are significant differences in teachers' perceptions according to the educational level they teach.